The World We Live In
by binawitch01
Summary: When you think of a zombie apocalypse, you think of blood and guts and terror. You wouldn't think of a 12, almost 13 year old girl running around Georgia with Michonne, who's badass. You wouldn't think of a 13 year old boy in a sheriff's hat in a prison with your best friends mom, would you? If not, then things are about to get crazy. Blood, brains, and crazy here I come. Carl/OC.
1. Chapter 1

Author's note: Hey, guys! This is my first story, so please be nice!

Disclaimer: I do not own the Walking Dead.

* * *

High school.

The very thought of it is terrifying, without undead, flesh-eating monsters around town. But, for me, life just sucks.

I remember the day the biters came, and how I lost my family to them. I don't even know how my best friend Sophia is doing, after almost two years of this so-called apocalypse.

Flashback: Outbreak

"So, what classes are you gonna sign up for?" my best friend Sophia Peletier asked.

"I honestly don't know, I don't even wanna think about high school until next year," I answered my friend truthfully. She's so perky about going to high school in two years, but I'm the opposite. I hate the thought of it.

"You know your gonna have to sign up for classes. It's not gonna just disappear," Sophia told me.

"I know, but I'm still gonna hold it off 'till the last minute," I replied.

We were walking through the halls of our middle school, avoiding all of these kids that had started coughing.

"Did ya hear about the big flu epidemic that's been going around? I hear some people even lose their minds and are starting to bite people!" I told her.

"Yeah, I did, and all of these people coughing are not making me feel better about it," Sophia said. We walked into our next class, which was algebra, and stared to unpack our notebooks. I sat next to Sophia in the first row, near the teacher, but at least we were away from the kids that were coughing in the back.

Our teacher, Mrs. Perkins, walked into the class and started to assign us pages of work to do from the book, and started to collect our homework that we did last night. As she went to the back of the class, one of the sick kids, I think his name was John, bit her on the arm.

"John, why on earth would you do such a thing?!" Mrs. Perkins yelled at him. When he looked up at her, his eyes milky white, he groaned at her. He grabbed her arm again and bit her a second time. She told him to go to the principals office, but he wouldn't listen. He fell out of his chair and bit her leg.

"Mrs. Perkins, you should go to the nurse and get those bites cleaned," I told her.

"Nonsense! I'll just clean these up with a few of the alcohol wipes... from... my desk..." then she put a hand to her temple, and fell down. I went to go help her, but when she opened her eyes, they were as white as Johns. I gave a little yelp, and stood back up.

As she sat on the floor, she groaned and moved slowly, not trying to get up, but trying to get me. There were a few screams from the rest of the class, and people started to run away in a fury of panic. I took one of the math books from a nearby desk and threw it at Mrs. Perkins' growling form. It landed on her stomach, but she didn't seem hurt or phased. I took a hard covered math book and hit her in the head with it. I hit her a few more times, her head slowly being broken into tiny pieces and a puddle of blood growing, and she stopped moving. I grabbed my stuff from my desk, feeling grateful that Sophia stayed and waited for me, and left the class.

"Are you okay?" Sophia asked me.

"I'm fine. I just... I think that's how we kill them. We have to hurt their brain, and they die," I said to her. I know I should be terrified, or upset, but I didn't.

Outside of the class, there were more of these... things that John and Mrs. Perkins turned into, roaming around. I didn't even wait for the bell to ring, I left the school.

Sophia's mom was in the parking lot with her dad, and Sophia left to go with them.

"Be careful," I told her, and gave her a hug.

"You, too. Tell your mom I said hi," she answered, and she walked over to her car. She waved goodbye, then entered their SUV.

I didn't live too far from the school, so I just walked. I only have my mom to worry for, but she probably wasn't even home from work yet. She was a chef at one of the diners out here, and she doesn't get home until eleven at night.

Sure enough, when I got home, she wasn't there.

I decided to get some food, and ate silently while I watched the news. When it said that there is a safe spot in Atlanta, which was only a few miles from here, I started to pack some stuff for a trip I was sure my mom and I were going to go on. I didn't know what to bring for protection against these monsters (which I decided to call biters,) so I  
decided to pack a few knives.

While packing some of my mothers things, I found, in her sock drawer, a handgun with a few rounds of ammo. I should have known that she had this, since it wasn't uncommon to have a few guns in the house. This was Georgia. I decided to pack that, too. Then I started to charge my cell phone, and my IPod Touch, and then packed them with their chargers. Mine as well have some form of entertainment, along with a few of my books.

My mom and I don't look that much alike. I have long, dark brown hair, where hers was cut short, and a dirty brown/dark blonde color. Her eyes were a chocolaty brown, where mine were a hazel/greenish mix. She says that I have my fathers eyes.

My father... He's been dead for four years, because of how much he drank. He got liver cancer, and died when I was only 8 years old, which was actually when I met Sophia and her mom, Carol. My dad was never home after work, but whenever my mom spoke of when they met, she would always light up. My mom always told me he used to be a better person, before I was born. Carol and Sophia both helped me and my mom through a tough time in our lives. Without dad, my mom had to get a job, and wasn't home much. But, we both were able to deal with the loss of my father, and we were happy.

When my mom finally got got home, she ran over to me and gave me a hug.

"Oh, honey! Are you alright? Did anyone hurt you?" she kept looking over me, checking for wounds of any sort.

"I'm fine, mom," I told her.

"I've heard that more and more people are getting sick. More of these... these monsters are biting people," she slowly started to move one of her sleeves of her diners outfit, "one of my costumers went crazy and bit me, so I speak from experience," as soon as I saw the bite, my heart dropped.

"Mom, my teacher got bit by from one of the sick kids, and she got sick, too," I told her, my voice shaking, " Will you get sick, too, mommy?" She could tell I was scared, because I never call her mommy unless I'm scared.

She smiled at me, "Of course not, honey. I will never leave you," she saw the bags behind me, "What's this?"

"I heard that there's a safe house in Atlanta, a few miles from here. I think we should stay there until this... flu epidemic goes by," I told her. I didn't tell her about me killing Mrs. Perkins, or that I didn't think it was a flu epidemic anymore. Either way, she agreed to go to Atlanta, then told me to go take a shower and go to bed.

The next morning, I put on a fresh pair of clothes, then decided to put one of the knives on my belt, just in case I needed it. I went to my moms room, but her bed was empty. I looked around for her, calling out her name. Then I saw that the bathroom door was closed, and gave a sigh of relief. I knocked on the door, but she wouldn't open.

"Mom! What's taking you so long?" I said through the wooden door, "Hurry up, mom! We still need to go pick up Sophia and her parents," I silently prayed that Ed wouldn't be there. Though Sophia never told me straight up, I knew that her dad was the reason she and Carol have so many bruises and scars.

I started to knock on the door, and telling my mom that she needed to hurry up. After a while, I decided to open the door. What I saw made my heart drop.

My mom was in the bathtub, but her bite had started to bleed again, turning the water red, and she looked like she was asleep.

"Mom! Are you okay?!" I went near the tub. Her head tilted in my direction and she slowly opened her eyes.

They were a milky white, and she let out a growl. Her arms were slowly moving their way towards me.

I gasped in despair, and tears filled my eyes. My mother was dead. My mother was dead.

I can't leave her like this. I won't. I took my knife, and I slowly walked towards her, my knife in my hand and tears running down my face.

"You said you wouldn't leave me! You told me you wouldn't leave me!" I yelled at her. She groaned again.

I took my knife and stabbed her in the side of the head. She stopped moving, and now there was a lot more blood everywhere. I sat down and cried for what seemed like hours.


	2. Chapter 2

I decided that, even though my mom was dead, I was still going to go to Atlanta. I grabbed the two bags, got my bike, and peddled over to Sophia's house.  
I found their hideaway key underneath the mat. When I opened the door, there was no one inside. I looked around the house, and it looked like they just packed up and left. Maybe they heard of the safe house in Atlanta, too.  
Great. Not only did I just lose my mom, my best friend and her mom were missing.  
I walked into Sophia's room, looking at some of the stuff she left in her room. I saw one of her necklace's shining on her dresser, so I went over to it. It was in the shape of a heart, colored in a shade of hot pink. I grabbed it, holding it in my hand and turning the heart in my palm.  
I heard a sound coming from another room, so I stuffed the heart necklace in my pocket, took my knife out, and walked down the halls, trying to find the maker of the noise. I held my knife over my head and walked into the kitchen. There was a woman in the kitchen, holding a sword above her head, ready to strike. I immediately put down my knife, and just stared at the woman.  
She slowly lowered her sword, "Who the hell are you?"  
"Who the hell are YOU?" I countered, while I sheathed my knife. She put her sword away as well.  
"I'm Michonne. Do you live in this house?"  
"No, but I knew the people who did. Did you know Carol?"  
"No, but the door was opened, and I need some food," she looked at me, "How old are you?"  
"12. My name is Alyssa," I told her.  
"Well, Alyssa, do you have a group?" Michonne asked.  
"No, I'm by myself. Why? Do you have a group?"  
"You could say that, but the other two I travel with don't speak much," she looked at me quizzically, "Do you want to join me?"  
"I... I don't..." I looked around me. All the people I care about have either died, or left me. Who else would come by and make a generous offer? "Sure. Why the hell not?"  
"We'll, I need some food. I haven't gone on a run yet, and I'm starving," Michonne said, and started looking through the cabinets again.  
"I have some food,"  
She stopped looking and turned around, a look of confusion on her face,"You do?"  
"Yeah, it's in my bags on the bike out front," I told her, making my way to the door. She followed suit. Outside, I saw two biters with their jaws and arms cut off, both on a metal chain tied to a tree.  
"Are these the 'two others' you were traveling with?" I asked her.  
She nodded, "They mask my sent, so I can walk around much more easily without being followed by herds of walkers," she replied.  
"You call them walkers?" I walked over to my bike, and started rummaging through one of my bags.  
"Yeah. What do you call 'em?" she said, taking out her sword and killing a few biters that had gotten too close for comfort.  
"I call them biters," I grabbed two cans of soup, "voila, food," I tossed one to her, which she caught, "got a can opener?"  
"No. Looks like we have to go back inside," Michonne said.  
We went inside with the bags, found a can opener, and sat in the kitchen, eating silently. We tried turning on the Tv, but it looked like the power supply had been cut off.  
I tried to start a conversation, "So, where are we going to travel?"  
"Anywhere. As long as we keep moving, the walkers won't be able to catch us," Michonne said.  
"I heard there was a safe house in Atlanta. Maybe we could go there," I offered.  
Michonne thought for a minute, "Well, I guess that's not a bad idea. Okay, we'll travel in the morning. Right now, we rest," Michonne stood up, threw the empty can into the trash, and then walked into the master bedroom, and closed the door.  
"Nice to meet you, too," I mumbled, throwing out my can and then heading into Sophia's bedroom, changing into pajama's and then, reluctantly, getting onto her bed. The room looked much more cheerful than I felt.  
I turned the light off, put my head into the pillow, and silently cried until I fell asleep.

* * *

The next morning, I awoke to the sound of walkers groaning in the house. I quickly jumped out of the bed, put on last nights pair of clothes, and grabbed the knife on my belt, holding it over my head to stab walkers.  
I walked into the living room, looking around for walkers.  
"Good, you're up already," I heard from behind me.  
I jumped and turned around, then lowered and put away my knife. It was Michonne, holding her pet walkers' chain in her hand, and the bags on one shoulder.  
"Jesus, Michonne! You scared the crap outta me!" I exclaimed.  
"Sorry," she shrugged, "I was just getting everything packed up," she pushed the walkers out the door, "When you're ready, come outside. We'll be waiting," and she left.  
I went to the bathroom and looked at the mirror. My hazel/green eyes that usually shined back at me, we're slightly dim. My long brown hair fell around my shoulders in little waves. I took out Sophia's heart necklace and placed it on my neck. I put my hand on the cool metal, reminding myself that Sophia might not be dead. She could be alive, safe and sound with her mother.  
I sighed at my reflection, and left the bathroom, walking outside to Michonne and her pet walkers.  
I put my hair in a ponytail, "Okay, I'm ready to go," and we started walking down the street, leaving my bike behind.


	3. Chapter 3

_A/N: Whoop whoop! Third chapter is up! There is a time jump from the last chapter. One month has passed._

Time Jump! One Month: Atlanta

Michonne and I were walking through Atlanta, looking inside the buildings, trying to find the safe house, and maybe something to eat. We ate up all of my food, and now we were looking through any store we found to get any supplies. We left her pet walkers at our sad little camp, in front of the city. Right now, we were walking through the deserted streets, finding it odd that there wasn't any walkers around.  
After some time searching the streets, I told Michonne, "Maybe the safe house got overrun as well,"  
She nodded, "That's a possibility, but I want to be sure," and she took out her sword, which I found out was a katana.  
We kept looking around, and when we turned on a street, we were staring death in the face. There was a herd of at least two hundred walkers crowding that street. One had turned and looked at us, his undead buddies following him, and they were running at us.  
"RUN!" Michonne screamed at me, and we turned around and bolted through the streets. We could hear the moans behind us getting closer, and we kept running.  
We quickly turned onto another street, getting closer to our camp, when I tripped.  
"Shit!" I screamed, the pain hitting me instantly, "Michonne!"  
She saw me on the floor, and started running towards me, killing a few walkers near her.  
"What's wrong with your ankle?" she asked, getting on the ground and helping me up, keeping weight off my foot.  
"I twisted it. I think it's sprained," I cursed under my breath as the walkers were turning onto our street, "We have to get out of here NOW!" and Michonne helped me hop along until we got to our camp.  
It honestly wasn't an actual camp. It consisted of my two bags, Michonne's pet walkers, and two empty sleeping bags. Both of our sleeping bags were colored in military camouflage, but mine was a size smaller than Michonne's.  
Michonne set me down on my sleeping bag, and took off my left shoe, examining my injured foot.  
"It looks like its sprained, but it'll heal. I'll need to set the bone and ice it," Michonne said, taking a small first aid kit from one my bags.  
I groaned, "Do we even HAVE any ice?"  
She set my foot, and started to wrap my foot in gauze, "No, we don't. But if I can find an old gas station, I might be able to get a bag of cold water that used to be ice, and that might help the swelling," she finished wrapping up my foot.  
"You are not going on a run without me," I told her.  
"You're going to stay here, Liz. You can't put any weight on that foot for at least a day, and you need that water to help it heal properly," Michonne countered.  
"But what if there are more walkers around?" I argued.  
"Then I'll get out of there as fast as I can. But, the more water we have the better off we'll be. Whether you have a sprained ankle or not," Michonne told me.  
I groaned. She was right, we need the water.  
"Fine. But if you die, M, I will kill you," I remarked.  
She laughed, "I haven't died yet," then she got up, "I should go now, while the sun's still out," I nodded and gave her a hug before she left.

* * *

A few hours later, at dusk, Michonne returned, and was much more successful than we originally had thought. Not only did she get the water, she got some food and some painkillers from the nearby drugstore. We started a fire to cook our meal, and sat next to each other in a comfortable silence.  
I laid my head on her shoulder, "Thank you for getting all of these supplies,"  
She chuckled, "Your welcome, Liz,"  
"You know, I don't know anything about you. Who you were before all of this," I moved my arms, gesturing around us, "happened,"  
"I don't know anything about you either,"  
"Touché,"  
Michonne sighed, "I was a lawyer. I took the bar exam two times before finally passing it, and I was supposed to make three cases before all hell broke lose," she pointed to one of her walkers, "You see that guy? He used to be my boyfriend. We were together for two years before he got bit and turned,"  
I guess it was my turn to say something, "I was only in 7th grade when this happened. I lived with my mom, and my father died when I was 8," I looked at Michonne, "The reason I was in that house when you found me, was because my best friend, Sophia, and her mom, Carol, lived there. They left before I got there," I touched the cool metal around my neck, "This necklace is Sophia's,"  
Michonne nodded and took out the food, "I'm sorry about your dad. What happened to your mom?" she handed me a plate.  
"Uh..." I choked back a sob, " She... Shegotbitanddied," I said in a rush, not wanting to say them at all.  
"Oh," Michonne said sadly, "Im sorry, I shouldn't have asked. It was none of my business," she walked over to me, handing me the food.  
I wasn't so hungry anymore. I tried to stop the tears from falling, but they fell anyway. Michonne was hugging me a second after, letting me cry into her shirt.  
"I'm sorry," I cried into her shirt, "I should be stronger,"  
"Don't be sorry. We all have to let our feelings out at some point," she stroked my hair.  
We stayed like that for a while, me hugging Michonne and crying, her hugging me back and stroking my hair.  
After a while, I finally stopped crying, and we began to eat our food.  
"Whens your birthday, M?" I asked, breaking the silence.  
"It's November 13th," Michonne replied.  
"Aw! It already passed, and you didn't even tell me!" I said.  
"Didn't think it was important. Didn't the world end?" Michonne shrugged.  
"Well, yeah. But we should keep a little bit of tradition alive, shouldn't we?" I asked. I know I sounded like a little kid, but I think it's important. My mom and I always made a big deal of our birthdays. We would always make each other breakfast in bed, and then we would do whatever the, "birthday girl," wanted, whether it was a small get-together or a party, we were both always happy. I think this world needs a little bit of happy sometimes.  
"I guess so. When's yours?" she asked.  
"It's May 29th," I said happily, "about six months from now, if my counting is correct,"  
"Uh huh," Michonne replied, "You keep track of the days?"  
"Yeah. I think its important to keep track. We never know which day may be our last. I think we should at least know how much time we have to spend the rest of the lives,"  
We finished our food, we both went to bed.  
I had a dreamless sleep that night.

* * *

_Hope you guys liked it! I always thought that TWD never really built up Michonne's character, so I decided to add some of her history in this chapter. As for Alyssa crying, I'm not going to make her an annoying Mary-Sue who cries all the time and can't do anything. I just wanted to make this part realistic, because a lot of people would really be sad if their mom died, so this is just letting her have a bit of an emotional moment._

_P.S. Reviews are always appreciated._


	4. Chapter 4

_A/N: What's Up? This is the third chapter in a row that I've posted! This is three months since last chappie._

Time Jump! Three Months: Andrea

Three months.  
It's been three months since we went to Atlanta, hoping to find the safe house that the news channel had promised.  
Instead, the entire city was filled with hundreds and hundreds of walkers, which tried to kill me and Michonne. I sprained my ankle in the process of trying to not get killed, which Michonne had to fix. We don't really have a plan on where to go. We travel where our feet take us, and get the supplies we need from whatever abandoned place we find. Michonne and I were walking around in the woods. We usually don't travel at night, but a herd of walkers had caught up to us, so we ran.  
"Eye spy with my little eye.. something silver," I said to Michonne. We've been walking for hours, so we decided to play eye spy (more like I decided to play and she was pulled into the game.)  
"Silver?" she looked around, "Is it the chain of your necklace?"  
I touched the cold metal with my hand, "No."  
"Hmm... Silver..." Michonne muttered, "I don't see anything silver,"  
"Give up?"  
"Yeah,"  
I giggled, "It's the moon. The way it shines in the night, it looks like its silver," I said. Tonight, the moon was full, shining brightly as I looked at it.  
In the distance, we heard moans of walkers, stopping us in our traps. Michonne held up her katana, and I held up my new bow.  
Did I mention I found a bow?  
We were looking through an abandoned hunting shop, when we found this beautifully crafted bow, with a quiver full of arrows. I decided to take them, saying it would be better than my gun, which was loud, and my knife, because I would have to be close to walkers which could put me in danger. I turned out to be a natural at it; so I took it.  
We started to move faster, and we saw something in the distance erupting in flames. We heard the moans of walkers increasing, but we didn't see any of them.  
As we kept walking, something fell through the bushes and trees, and landed in front of us.  
It was a blonde woman, covered in blood. We held our ground, holding our weapons up.  
"Who are you people?" the woman asked.  
"Are you bit?" Michonne asked, ignoring the woman's question.  
"No. Walkers were all around me, but I wasn't bit. This is all walker blood," she answered. Michonne nodded.  
"I'm Michonne. This is my friend, Alyssa," she gestured towards me.  
"I'm Andrea. I was just separated from my group, "Andrea said, "I have no idea where everybody is now! Shane, Lori, Hershel, Carol..." I looked at her, joy in my eyes.  
"Did you just say Carol?" I asked.  
"Yeah. Why?"  
"Does she have a daughter named Sophia?"  
"She did,"  
"OH MY GOD SOPHIA AND CAROL ARE ALIVE!" I said loudly, not being able to hold my excitement, "Sophia and I used to go to the same school, we're best friends,"  
"Oh, I shouldn't have answered like that," Andrea said uncomfortably.  
I stopped jumping around, "Why? What happened?"  
"Sophia, Carol, and Ed were with our group in the beginning," Andrea started.  
"Did Ed die already?" I asked, giving a humorless laugh.  
"Yeah, he was one of the first people to go,"  
"Good," I said. I never liked Ed.  
"After a while, Sophia got lost in the woods. We kept searching for her for days. When we found her," Andrea looked at me, sadness present in her eyes.  
"No," I said, "No. No. No!" anger pulsed through my veins, my jaw clenched, "She died; didn't she?"  
"When we found her, she had already turned,"  
I wouldn't cry, but I was still sad, "Did anybody... Put her down?" I asked in a whisper.  
"Yes. We gave her peace," Andrea said, "If it makes you feel any better, Carol is still alive,"  
"Good," I said, "At least she is alive,"  
There was an uncomfortable silence for a moment.  
Michonne broke the silence, "We should get going. There are walkers everywhere, and we don't have that many supplies,"  
I nodded, as did Andrea. Michonne helped Andrea up, and we started walking.

* * *

It was now morning. We traveled all night, and my feet hurt like crazy, but we were getting farther and farther away from the walkers.  
Andrea didn't seem like a bad person, but I don't know anything about her. What her job was, where she came from, etc. So I can't say that I trust her.  
"Oh my god. Why didn't I think of this sooner!" Andrea exclaimed.  
"What?" I asked her, intrigued at her sudden enthusiasm.  
"When Sophia went missing, we were at the highway. We went to the Greene farm, but we left supplies for her at the highway. My group might have caught up there," she said.  
Michonne and I thought for a minute.  
"Come on, M. What harm could it do?" I said.  
Michonne nodded, "Alright,"  
So we went to the highway. When we got there, there were no supplies, but there was a message to Sophia written in white paint on a broken down cars windshield.  
"Dammit! They were here, though, "Andrea muttered, "If only I remembered sooner,"  
"At least we know they're alive, and they got through that fire and herd," I said.  
Andrea nodded, but didn't look satisfied. I guess I wouldn't be either, if I were in her shoes.  
"Well, what will we do now?" Andrea asked.  
"Well, we should just keep moving. We could find a safe place to stay for a while," I told her, "and with winter coming, it might slow the walkers down," it was the best choice we had.  
We started walking again, unsure of the journey we were about to head into.

* * *

_A/N Hope you liked it! Constructive criticism is always liked!_


	5. Chapter 5

_A/N: Hey guys! I'm slwoly making my way to the actual storyline of TWD, so be aware! This chapter is set up eight months after Michonne and Alyssa found Andrea._

Time Jump! Eight Months: Sick

Andrea coughed. She coughed, shivered, and sneezed at her side of this little shack we found.  
I feel bad for her. She's been sick for who knows how long, and there is nothing Michonne and I can do to help her. We've been traveling for months, until Andrea got sick and we found this little place. It wasn't cozy, but its the best we could do for her. Michonne's pet walkers were at the front of the shack, far away form us, so we could sleep without hearing them moaning.  
My birthday came and went, nothing really special happened, if you didn't count Michonne and Andrea saying happy birthday to me. At least I'm an official teenager.  
I walked over to Andrea, "Drink," I said to her, handing her the rest of my water bottle. I wish I could do more for her, but I don't even know what type of sickness she has.  
Andrea gave me a thankful look, and drank my bottle. I touched her forehead, and jumped back a bit. She was burning up.  
"Michonne, could you go outside and grab some snow? It could help cool down her fever," I asked.  
I hope Andrea doesn't have anything contagious, or anything too bad that she might die. Even though she hasn't told me much about her past, she was still a human being, living and breathing, and she looks like a trustworthy person. Michonne has gotten close to her, they act like sisters.  
Michonne got the snow in a cloth and came back inside. I put the cloth of snow on Andrea's forehead, holding it.  
"We need to go on a run soon. She needs medicine, but we don't even know what she has," I stated, looking at Michonne, "It could be just a bad case of the common cold, or acute bronchitis,"  
Michonne nodded, "Alright, I'll go on the run. You stay here, keep her company and make sure she doesn't get worse,"  
I didn't like it, but I nodded and Michonne left.  
"You guys should just leave me here, "Andrea said, her voice just above a whisper, "All I do is slow you two down,"  
"Well, aren't you just a ray of sunshine," I said, using a fake Texan accent, "We aren't leaving you to die, Andrea. Whether you like it or not, you're stuck with us,"  
"All I'm doing is slowing you down! You'd have a better chance of survival without having me around," Andrea argued.  
"And you'd have a better chance of survival WITH us," I replied, "Now, stop talking. Save up your energy and sleep,"  
"But-" Andrea tried to speak, but I interrupted.  
"We are waiting for Michonne to come back with some medicine, which will help you. You, my dear, need rest," I took the now wet cloth off her forehead, "and more snow," and looked straight at her, "This is not a suggestion. You seriously need to have a more optimistic look at life,"  
I stood up, brushed some dirt and snow off my pants, and went to grab snow.  
Andrea fell asleep soon after, giving me some time to myself. I thought about the situation I was in.  
The dead come back to life, and they tear you to shreds and eat you. My parents are dead, and I was alone until I was found by a stranger. I stayed with the stranger, and she became someone I could look up to. She wasn't a stranger anymore, but a really good friend. She was actually more than a friend, more like a mother to me. After that, we found another stranger and let her run around Georgia with us, until she got sick.  
It sounds like a sci-fi film come to life.  
By the time Michonne got back, Andrea was sound asleep, and I was watching her, making sure she was still breathing. Her fever had gone down, not by much, but at least she wasn't as hot as she was earlier.  
After Michonne woke her up and gave her the medicine, Andrea fell back asleep. I set my little napping area, laying on top of it. Why would Andrea want us to leave her? Why would she just want to die?  
"She wants us to leave her, M," I told Michonne, who was sitting next to me. I gave an attempt at fluffing my pillow.  
"What?" She asked.  
"Andrea wants us to leave her. She thinks she's slowing us down, and she wants to be left behind," I replied, turning on my side, and pulling up my small blanket. It made me feel sad, thinking about her wanting to basically die alone, being that sick.  
"You told her that there's no way in hell that we would do that, right, Liz?" Michonne asked, looking at Andrea.  
I giggled, "Something along those lines," I yawned, and curled up in my blankets, "Goodnight, mom" I said to her, before falling into a blissful sleep.

No One's P.O.V.

Michonne stared at Alyssa for the longest time, before giving her a kiss on the forehead.  
"Goodnight, Liz," Michonne said to the sleeping form.  
Alyssa had called Michonne, "mom." Something Michonne has never been called. It made her feel something, something that she hasn't felt in the longest time.  
Love.  
It made Michonne feel love.  
She laid down next to the sleeping form of Alyssa, gently stroking the sleeping girls hair.  
Michonne had a family. A family that she would do anything for; to protect, to care for, and to love. Between Andrea, acting like a sister Michonne never had, and Alyssa, being the daughter she never had, she felt happy. Even though they were in the middle of an apocalypse, this was the first time Michonne had truly felt content.

* * *

_A/N: Hope you guys liked it! I most likely won't be able to update at all during the week, so don't go crazy at the lack of new chapters._


	6. Chapter 6

_A/N: Hey guys! Miss me? So, I will be updating every saturday from now on, because I have lots of things to do during the week. I just want to thank everyone who has favorited and folled and reviewed me. Even though its not a big list of people, I want those people to know that they really made my day. So, in this chappie we finally get into the actual storyline of season three. I was wondering, do I need to put a disclaimer at the beginning of every chapter? 'Cause I haven't been, and I don't really know about all of this FanFiction stuff. _

_Anywas, on with the story!_

* * *

Back to Alyssa's POV  
I woke up the next morning, put all of my things into the two bags that I've carried since the start of this, and waited outside for Michonne to give Andrea her medicine. Michonne had trusted me to go outside with her pet walkers, so I wasn't completely alone. Though I was outside, I could still hear the argument between them, because Andrea wanted us to leave her here. I really hope she gets better soon.  
When they finally got outside, I gave, "mom," her pet walkers, and we started walking around, when we saw a helicopter in the sky.  
"Guys, are you seeing what I'm seeing?" I asked, using my hands as makeshift binoculars.  
"Oh my god. Is that a helicopter?" Andrea asked, before getting into a fit of coughs.  
Our happiness was soon diminished as the helicopter malfunctioned, and fell out of the sky smoking. We all looked at each other in agreement, and started to walk towards the trees, following the smoke in the sky.  
As soon as we got to the site of the crash, Andrea fell to the ground, puking.  
"Don't push yourself," Michonne said softly, helping Andrea up. She offered Andrea her shoulder and started to help her walk, but didn't get far and Andrea fell again.  
Michonne put the walkers' chains around a tree near Andrea, giving her a gun and went to check out the crash. I took my bow off my shoulder, grabbing an arrow out of my quiver and followed her, wanting to help if there was anybody who survived. We went to inspect one body.  
"Poor guy," I said. I turned around and saw a car driving near the wreckage. Michonne and I went over to Andrea, hiding behind the bushes.  
We watched as a group of guys got out, taking out weapons and inspecting the crash.  
"We should show ourselves," Andrea said.  
"Not yet," Michonne warned.  
We watched as one of the men walked over to the dead body Michonne and I saw, and put a knife into its head.  
The pet walkers were moaning, and making noise with the chains. It seemed like the other group could hear them, and they all looked in our direction. Michonne took out her katana, cut off their heads, and sat back down as if nothing happened.  
We heard bushes behind us moving, Michonne moved her katana, and I put notched an arrow on my bow.  
"Easy does it. Mine's a whole lot bigger than both a yours," a man behind us said, "Now, put down your weapons,"  
Michonne and I, reluctantly, put down our weapons and turned around.  
"Woah, holy shit," the man looked at Andrea, "Blondie,"  
Instead of having a right hand, he had a metal.. thing, with a knife attached to it. He barely turned around before killing a walker, "Now, how's about a big 'ole hug for your old pal, Merle?" Andrea then passed out. We were then taken to "Merle's" camp blindfolded in the back of a truck.  
When we got there, our weapons were taken away, and we were brought to the infirmary. Andrea was finally being treated, but we weren't allowed to leave.  
I sat near Michonne, thinking of a million questions I wanted answered, before Merle walked into the room.  
"Bet you was thinking I wasn't real," he took a chair and sat on it backwards, "probably hoping I wasn't,"  
He then proceeded to tell Andrea about how he was, after he apparently cut off his own hand. Merle showed us his stump, told us how he got here after he almost bled out, and asked how Daryl (who was apparently Merle's younger brother) was doing. Andrea told him how her group was doing the last time she saw them, giving off a list of the people who had died. I grimaced when she said Sophia, and then Andrea, almost reluctant to say the name, said Amy.  
"Your little sister?" Merle asked, slight affection in his voice. Andrea had a sister? Why didn't she tell us?  
"Y-Yeah," Andrea sadly told him, "There were more. A lot more. We had to leave Atlanta. We wound up on a farm. Daryl stepped up," she looked at Merle, giving a small smile, "became a valued member of the group."  
Merle smiled, but grew a serious look, "Now he's dead,"  
"I don't know that for sure. We got run off by a herd," Andrea said. Michonne and I never knew any of this about her. Andrea never spoke of her past with us.  
"How long ago?" Merle asked.  
"Seven, eight months?" she said, looking at me and Michonne for confirmation, "I was separated from the rest of them. Got left behind. I know what I feels like,"  
"I doubt that," Merle chuckled, moving his handless arm.  
"What do you want from us?" Andrea said. Mom stood up and started looking around the room.  
Merle laughed, "Damn," he stood up, looking at me and mom, "there she sits, four walls around her, a roof over her head, medicine in her veins, and she wants to know what I want from her," he then looked solely at Michonne, "I picked you and your mute friends outta the dirt, Blondie. How about a thank you?"  
"You had a gun on us," mom hissed.  
"So, she speaks," Merle said, sarcasm in his voice. He looked at me, "How about you there, tiny?"  
"You took our weapons from us. How do we know we can trust you?" I said, standing up tall.  
"That's just basic protocol, sweetheart. We can't let weapons into our walls without them being in our possession," Merle answered, laughing, "If we didn't, who knows what could happen. Riots, people going against each other, rounds poppin' all around, which would make walkers turn in our direction and-"  
"Thank you," Andrea said, breaking his little rant. I don't know much about him, but he is one hell of a cocky bastard.  
Merle looked at Andrea, nodding, and a door opened, letting in another man.  
Merle and the other man whispered, before asking us how we were feeling.  
"We want our weapons," mom said to him coldly, looking at the man.  
"Sure," the man said after a second, "On your way out of the front gates,"  
"Show us the way," Andrea said behind me and mom, "You kept us locked up in this room,"  
"You see any bars on the windows?" he smiled, "Your just being cared for,"  
"Under guard," Andrea said, annoyance behind her words.  
"To protect our people, " the man argued, "We don't know you,"  
"Well, we know enough about you to want out of this place," Andrea said, "We watched you drive a knife into the skulls of two dead men. What the hell was that for?"  
The man said, "They turned," obviously confused at us.  
"They weren't bitten," mom said, venom dripping from her words. The man and Merle shared a look, then turned back to us.  
" Doesn't matter. We all turn, no matter how we die, " he looked at all of us, "I put them of of their misery,"  
He started walking around, "It's not easy news to swallow, but there it is. You're not prisoners here, you're guests. If you want to leave, you're free to do so, but we don't open the gates past dusk," he stopped moving for a second and looked at us, "It draws too much attention. You especially," he looked at Andrea, "You need a solid nights sleep. You wouldn't last another day out there in your condition," he turned around and started walking through the door behind him, telling us we should see him tomorrow, and giving us a list of supplies he would give us, before sending us on our way. We began to follow him down the hall, where he opened a door.  
"Welcome to Woodbury," he said, grinning.  
I gasped, "This looks just like a regular town!" I smiled. And that's exactly what it looked like. Houses, streets, lamps (lighted with fire instead of electricity,) and there was no sign of walkers anywhere. It looked perfect.  
"That it is, sweetheart. Just a regular town full of regular people," the man looked at me, happy to see me smiling, "You know, you look a few years older than my daughter," the man said, "you two have the same hair color,"  
"Whats her name?" I asked him. I haven't seen another kid even near my age in forever.  
"Penny,"  
My mother grabbed my hand, holding it as if to say 'don't start a conversation with him.'  
"Come with me," the man said, ushering us to follow him. We started walking, mom still holding my hand, around to what looked like, to me, a wall, with a large gate in the middle of it and people holding guns looking out. Merle told the men up top a few commands, and I just stared at this place in amazement. Its perfect here.  
"You people military?" Andrea asked.  
"Hardly. Couple a vets, but by and large we're self-trained," the man said.  
"That's heavy artillery they're packing," Andrea said, looking at the guns men were carrying in astonishment.  
"Some men arrive with guns, but most of the weapons were scavenged over time,"  
"And the other side of town? The rest of the streets? They're all guarded like this?" Andrea stared at him, and he nodded, "It can't be,"  
He nodded again, "It can, and it is,"  
Merle whistled at the top of the wall, "Got us a creeper, Governor," the man nodded, and Merle grabbed a rather large gun from a man atop the wall.  
"Is that what they call you? Governor?" Andrea asked.  
"Some nicknames stick, whether you want them to or not," the Governor told her.  
"Buzz is a nickname. Governor is a title," Andrea said, "Theres a difference," she approached the wall to look at the walker. I let go of moms hand, and looked at the walker, seeing it get shot down by Merle, when a few more popped out of the woods. Merle shot them down as well.  
"I wish you didn't have to see that," the Governor said to me.  
"Please. I've shot more than I can count in the past few months. Watching someone shoot them down isn't that sad, " I told him, walking away from the wall and walking towards my mom.  
"We'll get the bodies in the morning," the Governor said, "We can't leave them to rot," Andrea looked at him, "Creates an odor. Makes people uneasy,"  
"What people? There's nobody here," Andrea looked around, as did I, "It's a ghost town,"  
Clearly amused, the Governor said, "This way," and we began to follow him. He lead us to what looked like used to be a hotel suite.  
"You'll be more comfortable here," he opened the door for us, "It ain't Four Seasons, but there's a hot shower. Waters limited, so keep it short," I looked around me.  
On the tables, there were plates full of food, electricity running through the walls, a bed with three stacks of clothes on it, and in the back, a small bathroom with a shower, and I could see that it had a few essentials.  
"We got food, water, fresh clothes. Hope this works," The Governor looked at me, "The clothes might be a little lose on you, though. We don't exactly have kid sizes anymore," we started looking around the room, me staying close to mom but looking at the kitchen area. I started to rub my necklace, being happier than I had been in a long time.  
"I know you'd feel better with you're sword, " the Governor started, " but you're safe here,"  
Mom gave him a look, that clearly said she didn't believe him, but said nothing.  
"We appreciate it," Andrea told him.  
"Oh, mom! Look at all the food!" I said, pure joy in my words.  
"I see, Liz," she told me, "We'll eat after we've taken showers," I smiled at her, and she smiled back.  
"What about the pilot? Will he make it?" Andrea asked the Governor.  
"Well, Dr. Stevens is doing all she can," he answered her, "Now, I know you got a lot more questions, but I got work to do. My man will be outside the door if you need anything else," he told us, pointing to a man with a gun at the door.  
"I'll see you three tomorrow," and with that, he left. Mom closed the door after him.  
We each our showers. I cherished the feeling of warm water flowing on my skin, taking all the dirt and grim and walker blood of my skin, and even cleaning my necklace. I cant even remember the last time I've taken a shower with hot water. Jumping out, I dried myself off, smelling my now citrus-scented hair, and put on the new clothes. We all sat at the small table in the kitchen, eating to our hearts content, and then took a well-deserved nap on the one bed in our room. We were a little squished, but it was the sleep I've had in a long time.

* * *

The next morning, Andrea said we should take a walk around town and get to know a few people. Mom and I were reluctant at first, but decided to go along.  
Outside, there were many people walking around, some walking dogs, some gardening, some even just sitting on benches and reading a book.  
"It's real," Andrea said, breathless to see so many people in one place.  
"You three were of there for a long time," our 'tour guide' told us, "While you were, the Governor was doing this,"  
"How many people do you have?" Andrea asked.  
"73. Eileen's about to pop, so her kid will make it 74," she said as we passed a clearly pregnant woman, "It's still a work in progress, but Rome wasn't built in a day,"  
"That's a bold comparison," I mumbled under my breath, but the woman heard me anyway.  
"I think we've earned it," the woman said to me, "Walls haven't been breached in over a month, we haven't suffered a casualty on the inside since early winter,"  
"How is that even possible?" Andrea said.  
"Our Governor set a strict curfew. Nobody out after dark. Noise and light are kept to the bare minimum. Armed guards on the fence and patrolling the perimeter to keep the biters away,"  
We kept walking around the town, me staying close to mom while Andrea and the tour guide continued on with their conversation.  
We kept walking around for a while, then we were brought to the Governors room, so we could be let out of Woodbury. But, before we could go, the Governor wanted to make us lunch.  
When he was at the stove, he told us to sit at the table in his room, and we saw a man at the table already.  
"This is Milton. He's one of the doctors here studying the disease," the Governor said. I gave Milton a small smile, and then sat down next to mom.  
While the Governor was cooking he asked us how long we were out there.  
"Around eight months," Andrea said, and I raised an eyebrow at her. She was obviously getting comfy with him.  
"Eight months? Hard to believe you ladies lasted so long out there," he said, pouring some food into each of our plates.  
"We can take care of ourselves well," I told him.  
"Obviously," he said, smiling at me, "I underestimated you three,"  
"Why? Because we're women?" Andrea asked.  
"No, because you were alone," he told her.  
"We had each other," Andrea said, looking at me and mom.  
"Three against the world. It's long odds," the Governor said, and put the pan away.  
"We managed," I told him, looking at mom and grabbing her hand. She doesn't like talking to the Governor, I can see that, but I didn't mind talking to him.  
Mom looked at our hands, and she gave me the smallest smile I've ever seen. I guess she doesn't like showing emotion near him either. I gave her a smile anyway. Without her, I would probably be dead by now.  
"Oh we're impressed," I heard the Governor say, pulling me out of my thoughts.  
"Very," Milton said, speaking for the first time.  
"Surviving in the wild is tough sledding. Wake up every morning on the ground, wondering if today is the day. Will it be quick and final or slow and, well, without end?" the Governor said. Mom looked across the table. I followed where her eyes were, seeing what she was looking at.  
Our weapons.  
They were stuck in the china set of the Governors kitchen. That's bullshit. We can't have our own weapons, but the Governor can keep some in his kitchen area?  
The Governor kept on with his little speech, " Will someone have the good sense to kill my brain, or, will I come back as one of them?" he finally sat at the 'head' of the table, across from me and my mother.  
"Do you think they remember anything?" Milton asked, "The person they once were?"  
"No, I don't think so. Who they were, whatever thoughts they've ever had, dies with them. They die, and their personality, the things that made them THEM, die as well," I said to him. The Governor and Milton looked at me sadly.  
"What?" I asked them, "You asked for an opinion; I gave you my opinion," I said, releasing moms hand, and taking a bite of food.  
"Milton believes there might be a trace of of the person they were, still trapped inside," the Governor explained.  
"Like an echo," Milton piped in, "Surely it must have crossed your mind," he passed me a cup of what looked like tea, and I took it.  
"One time, yeah," I took a sip, enjoying the warmth and flavor of the tea, "And then it tried to bite me,"  
"And then you killed it?" Milton asked, "I say 'it' only because no one here likes to refer to them as 'him' or 'her,'"  
"This is really good tea," I complimented him, trying to change the subject, "What is it?"  
"It's one of my families secret recipes," Milton answered, and smiled, "Glad to see you like it. I use real mint leaves, not tea bags,"  
Trying to change the subject had failed, because Milton asked mom, " The two you had in chains, who were they?"  
Mom didn't answer, so Milton continued, "The way you controlled them, used them to your benefit. You did know them, didn't you?"  
Mom slowly turned to him, and I grabbed her hand again, knowing she would soon explode at him.  
"Let them eat," the Governor said softly.  
"My apologies," Milton apologized, and we went back to our food.  
Andrea began to talk again, "So, what you have here, you expect it to hold? What if a herd comes through?"  
"It'll hold," the Governor replied.  
"What's your secret?" Andrea asked.  
"Really big walls," the Governor said, and Andrea laughed. I looked at the two of them. Were they flirting? It sure looked like it.  
"That soldier has walls, too, and we all know how that turned out," Andrea told him, all the playfulness out of her voice.  
"I guess we do," the Governor softly, "The real secret is what goes on within these walls. It's about getting back to who we were. Who we really are. They're just waiting to be saved. People here have homes, medical care, kids who go to school, adults have jobs to do. There's a sense of purpose. We're a community,"  
"With a lot of guns and ammunition," Milton added in.  
"Never hurts," the Governor agreed.  
"And really by walls," Andrea said, joining in.  
"And men willing to risk everything to defend them the Governor said, "Compromise our safety, destroy our community, I'll die before I'll let that happen,"  
"Looks like you're sitting pretty at the end of the world," Andrea told him.  
"Do I strike you as the kind of man who sits pretty?" the Governor asked her. There it is again, that look between Andrea and him. There's something going on between them. I made a mental note to ask Andrea about that later.  
"You reap what you sow. We're the seed. Now that winter has passed, it's time to harvest," the Governor said.  
"Time to hope?" Andrea asked him.  
"We're going out there and we're taking back what's ours," he leaned forward little bit, "Civilization. We will rise again. Only this time we won't be eating each other," he kept looking at Andrea, staring into her eyes intently.  
I can't believe what she's gotten herself into.  
She held up her cup of tea, "To civilization, then," and took a sip.  
There was a knock at the door, and the Governor excused himself. He talked to the man behind the door.  
"Sorry to cut lunch short, but this can't wait," he told us.  
Mom stood up abruptly, "We want our weapons," she told him forcefully.  
"Well, we can make this meal to go and your weapons will be waiting outside," the Governor answered her, "but you should take time to relax. Get your strength back. Have a look around. Who knows?," he turned to Andrea, "You might like what you see,"  
He left the room, Milton following. After a minute, we left.  
Walking down the street, mom said, "I don't trust him,"  
"Why not?" Andrea asked, "Have you ever trusted anybody?"  
A scowl passed moms face, "Yeah,"  
"Then give this a day or two, that's all I'm asking. Some time to get our shit together,"  
"My shit never stopped being together,"  
"Didn't look that way when Milton asked you about your walkers. I'm surprised he didn't get a fork in his eye,"  
"It was none of his damn business," I walked next to mom, watching the argument continue.  
"I guess it's none of mine, either," Andrea stopped walking, turning to mom and me, "Seven months together, all we've been through, I still feel like I hardly know you two,"  
"Andrea..." I said slowly.  
"I'm sorry, it's the truth. You two know everything about me,"  
"I didn't know you used to have a sister," I said.  
She looked at me, "Thats because she is a touchy subject,"  
"Then how do you know moms walkers aren't a touchy subject, either?"  
"Those walkers were with us all winter long," she turned to mom, "protecting us, and you took them out without any hesitation. That, that had-"  
"It was easier than you think," mom looked at me, "than both of you think," she looked at one of the Woodbury guards near us, "Come on, Liz. Let's go to our 'room.'" and she started walking away.  
With a sigh, I followed after her, giving Andrea a sad look.  
After going to the room, mom took out her map of Georgia, studying it.  
"Mom,"  
No answer.  
"Mom," I said again. She kept staring at the map. I could practically see all the gears turning in her head, strategies beginning to form.  
"Mom!" finally, I got her attention.  
"What, Liz?" she asked, clearly annoyed.  
"Put down the map," I gestured towards the paper in her hands.  
"What?"  
"I said, put down the map,"  
"Why?"  
"Because, we dot need to think of any routes until tomorrow,"  
"But-"  
"Jesus, mom. Stop worrying about this," I took the map, "and start to relax a bit. I don't know about you, but I'm going to take this time to sit down, stuff my face with this lovely food, then pass out on the bed that we're lucky to be given," I folded up the map, and put it on the chair at the side of the bed.  
"Great. He won you over, too," mom said.  
"What?" I asked her.  
"The Governor won you over, too. He shows off Woodbury, making it look like heaven, and you're going to want to stay. Right?"  
I looked at her, "Is that why you're all angry? You think I'm going to stay here?" I laughed, "Mom, this place may be great, but I'm sticking by your side. You're more important to me than this place," I sat down next to her on the bed.  
I heard a breath being released, "You're sure?"  
"Of course I'm sure. I love you, mom," I said.  
I was soon engulfed by a hug, "I love you too," I heard her whisper.  
I smiled at her, "Now, come on. Let's eat the food on our table,"  
She laughed, "Okay," and we sat at the small table, eating the food.

* * *

_Hope you guys liked it! Please review, they really make my day._


	7. Chapter 7

_A/N: Hey guys! Miss me? I just wanted you all to know that Ive beeen so happy with all the reviews, favorites, and followers of my story. So far, I've only had six reviews. Do you guys think that we can make it ten before next update? Please?_

_Either way, I just want to make clear that this chapter is the end of "Walk With_ _Me_"_ and "The Killer Within" because both of them were small, so I combined them._

* * *

After eating some food, we ended up outside on what looked a patio. We saw the Governor and his little group coming back from a run. I was also able to spot Andrea hanging around the Governor.

I knew it. They were _so_ a thing!

I watched as the Governor stood up on the back of a truck, silencing the crowd of people, "Yesterday, we brought in four new people. One was a helicopter pilot with a National Guard outfit. Even though he's clinging to life, he told us about his convoy on the highway, his men. I promised I'd bring them back here alive. But they didn't have our walls, or our fences. Biters got there before we did. Now, the men had trucks, the trucks had weapons, food, medicine, things we need. Now, we didn't know them, but we'll honor their sacrifice by not taking what we have here for granted. Won't be long before dark, so go on home. Be thankful for what you have. Watch out for each other," he then got off the truck, and the crowd dispersed. I could see Andrea approaching the Governor, engaging him in a conversation.

Mom got off the chair, and I followed after her. We walked back to the room, where I changed into a black tank top and shorts, and decided to take a nice, long nap.

Just as I was about to crawl into bed, I saw something on the wall move. I squinted my eyes, looking at it for a few seconds, then realizing what it was. A spider. A creepy, eight-legged arachnid that I was terrified of.

I yelped, then back away as far as I could from the stupid furry thing.

"What? What's wrong?" mom looked at me, seeing my obvious terror.

"There's a... A spider... On the wall," I whispered.

Mom rolled her eyes, "Liz, I've seen you kill ten walkers at once, with only your knife, and you're afraid of a tiny spider?" she walked over to it, grabbing a tissue and squishing it.

"I have arachnophobia," I confessed, "They've always terrified me." After she threw the tissue away, I thanked her and finally got into the bed.

Mom gave me a kiss on the cheek, whispered good night, then sat down on the chair near the bed, pulled out the Georgia map, and studied it.

I swear, she is obsessed with that map.

The Killer Within

When Andrea got back, I had already woken up from my nap, and decided to go out and look at Woodbury while she and mom talked.

As I walked the streets, I was still amazed at what the Governor did here. Even if mom didn't like him, I still had to give him props for this. There were animals, kids, whole families here. I couldn't remember the last time I've seen so many people at once, and all so happy.

I keep telling myself that I shouldn't get so comfy here. I know mom doesn't like it here, and that as quick as she can, she'll be out of here, and so will I.

I saw the Governor walking down the street, a smile on his face. I quickly turned around, knowing that if I had a one-on-one conversation with him, mom would be pissed beyond belief. I turned around, and ran into Milton.

"Oh, hello Alyssa. What are you up to?" he asked me.

"I was just taking a little walk around Woodbury," I answered, trying to be nice, "How are you?"

"I am well. I just came back from our doctors office," Milton answered, giving me a smile, "I was wondering of you would like to learn how to make the tea. You appeared to like it at lunch yesterday,"

I thought for a moment, "Sure. Why not?" and gave a smile.

"Well, let's go then. You have nowhere to be at the moment, I presume?"

"No. Nows a good time,"

He started walking, and led me to his room, opening up his kitchen cupboards and grabbing two mugs and a few ingredients.

"So, first we set the water to boil," Milton instructed, putting a pot full of water on the stove, "This tea recipe is the easiest I know, so you should be able to make it. It's just a simple chamomile,"

"Okey-dokey," I replied.

As we waited for the water to boil, he asked me, "How is your mother?"

"She's fine. Right now, she's with Andrea at the room,"

"Isn't Andrea your mother?" he asked, confused.

I laughed, "No! Michonne is my mother. Andrea is my moms friend, not my mother,"

"Oh, I apologize for that. I just assumed that Andrea was your mother,"

"That's alright. Michonne and I don't look the same, so I can see how you thought that," I answered.

Milton began to give me instructions of how to make the tea, giving a list of ingredients and telling me the order to put them into the water. He showed me how to, and then I got to take a sip of it. It was really good, and he wrote everything down on a piece of paper for me, along with the mint tea that he made yesterday.

"Thank you," I told him.

"You're welcome. Maybe next time I'll be able to teach you the mint tea one," Milton replied.

I gulped, knowing I wouldn't get taught it, "Yeah, maybe,"

With that I left his room, and walked back to our little temporary room, opening the door and only finding Andrea.

"Where did mom go?" I asked her, watching her brush out her blonde locks.

"She went for a walk," Andrea replied, putting the brush on the side of the sink, and sitting down on the bed. I followed and sat down with her.

"So, what were you talking to the Governor about?" I asked, a smirk on my face.

"N-Nothing," she replied and looked at the wall, finding it suddenly interesting.

"You like him," I sang playfully, giggling like an idiot.

"I do not!" Andrea said, blushing.

"You do, too!" I said, giggling some more.

She was silent for a moment, then whispered, "Is it that obvious?"

"I knew it!" I gloated, and smirked, "I'm always right about things like this,"

"Oh, so your an expert on relationships now?" Andrea laughed with me.

"Totally," I said. We sat there with each other, laughing.

I then grew a serious look, "I wouldn't get to comfortable around him, though. We'll be leaving soon,"

Andrea shifted on the bed, "Well, I was thinking... why leave?"

I stared at her, "Are you serious?"

"Why wouldn't I be? This place is great. We could all live here, and have lives. Woodbury is the place we've been looking for all these months," she told me.

"You know how mom feels about the Governor," I retorted.

"Well, Michonne's not my mom. I don't need her to tell me where to live," Andrea snapped at me.

"Well, if you don't wanna stay with us, fine. But when _my_ mom leaves, I'll be with her," I told her.

Just then, mom walked through the door. She immediately grabbed the map, showing me and Andrea different routes we could take.

"If we leave soon, we'll get a few hours on the road before dusk," she told us. I watched as her fingers trailed the map, showing us different roads we could take.

"Where are we heading?" Andrea asked.

"I'm thinking the coast. We have the water completely on one side, maybe we find a boat. Best thing we can find is an island," mom told us. I nodded in agreement, but Andrea looked like her mind was wandering off.

"And if the coast isn't safe," Andrea asked.

"Keep moving," mom answered.

"Let's say the coast is safe. What do we do? Just grow old, live off the sea by ourselves?" Andrea asked mom.

"I'd rather take my chances out there than stay here," mom mumbled to Andrea, giving a humorless laugh.

"Because your gut tells you there's something off about this place- about the Governor," Andrea said.

I knew where this conversation was headed, so I excused myself to go to the bathroom, even though I didn't need to go.

I looked at myself in the mirror. Almost all of the dirt and walked blood had been cleaned off my skin from yesterday's shower. My eyes had their usual shine again, and my hair had grown longer, almost reaching down to my little waist. I put my hand on Sophia's necklace, admiring the silver chain and the pink heart. I don't know why I keep it on anymore. It used to help me hope that Sophia might not be dead, but I know that she is. Why keep it on when the owner of it has been lost to this world?

I contemplated taking it off, but decided to leave it on. While mom and Andrea continued to talk about the routes, I took a nice shower, with hot water. When I got out, Andrea had left.

Mom and I were doing our own things at the moment, her looking at the map again, and I was listening to music from my IPod through my headphones. The battery had died months ago, but thanks to the electricity running through these walls, I was able to charge it.

An hour passed when Andrea got back, asking to stay another night. I rolled my eyes, turning my back to the situation and listening to my music, turning it up louder and letting mom talk to Andrea.

The sounds of, "Misery Business," by Paramore filled my ears, and I closed my eyes, enjoying the punk rock.

I didn't even notice that mom left, until three songs after and I finally turned around.

* * *

_A/N: Hope you guys enjoyed it! Review please, I really like them!_


	8. Chapter 8

_A/N: Hey guys! What's up? I just wanted to say, MERRY CHRISTMAS! I know its a little late, but I just wanted to say that. How was everyone's Christmas? I also wanted to thank you guys because I actually got 10 reviews! Thank you guys so much for them, you seriously don't know how much they mean to me. I was thinking..could we get 15 reviews before the next update? Please? Pretty please? Pretty please with a cherry on top?_

_Anyways, on with the story!_

* * *

There was a party going on at Woodbury the next morning, and Andrea insisted that I go. She said that not many celebrations are held nowadays, so it would be a good experience for a thirteen-year old. Mom went too, but she didn't grab anything to eat or drink. She stayed away from everybody, just as she always did.

I stood next to Andrea, unsure of what to do.

"Why aren't you playing with other kids?" Andrea asked me.

I looked around, seeing everyone doing miscellaneous activities, "All the kids here are younger than me, and I don't exactly 'play' anymore,"

"That's a shame. I loved to play when I was your age,"

"Well, the dead didn't come to life when you were my age," I remarked. I saw Milton walking towards us with three cups in his hands, and I gave him a smile. He gave Andrea and me each a cup, and it was cold in my hands.

"Cold drinks?!" Andrea exclaimed as she moved her hair and put the drink on the back of her neck. I put mine on my forehead, loving the coolness of it on my warm skin.

"Been running the freezers all day," Milton replied, "Not the most practical use of the generators to me,"

"Are you kidding me? This is amazing," I told him, taking a long gulp of water.

"The Governor feels it's worth it," Milton said, taking a sip of his drink.

"Well, to a great party," Andrea said, holding up her glass. Milton and I clinked our glasses against hers, and I took another sip.

I looked at mom across the street. She just stood there, looking at everyone. I gave her a smile, but she didn't return it.

"Now, could you drop us a hint about what's happening tonight," Andrea said, pointing to me, then herself.

"Hmm," Milton said, gathering his thoughts, "Mere words cannot adequately describe the festivities ahead,"

"Nice one. Telling us much, yet no details at all," I told him.

"Yes, indeed, Alyssa," he smiled at me, "You seem to be enjoying yourself,"

"Well, the last time I had a cold drink was about two... maybe three years ago," I said, "And being able to eat two hamburgers without worrying about tomorrows food is amazing,"

"Well, we have enough food to go around every day here," he told me, "We haven't had to worry about food shortages since the beginning of winter,"

"Impressive," Andrea told him.

I looked across the street, seeing mom turn around and walk away from the celebration.

"If you'll excuse me, Milton, mom is going back to the room, and I should go with her," I told him.

"Go ahead. Will you be joining in the festivities tonight?"

"Maybe. It depends on if my mom will let me go with Andrea," I answered.

They both told me goodbye, and I quickly followed after mom. I saw her stop at the building where the Governor stays, looking at the window on the second story.

"What are you looking at, mom?" I asked her. I looked at the window, too, but couldn't see much through the blinds.

"Nothing," she said briskly, and continued walking down the barren street. The only reason it was barren was because everyone is in the main square of Woodbury for the party.

"Want a drink?" I asked her, holding out my cup of cool water.

"No thanks, Liz. I'm good," she answered.

"Suit yourself," I told her, and took another sip of it.

I followed after her down the street, but she stopped me, "Go back,"

"What?" I asked her.

"Go back and join the party. Have some food, drink some water. Just enjoy it; hopefully tonight's our last night here,"

"... Okay," I told her, "But where are you going to go?"

"I'm gonna go for a stroll around town," mom said with a smirk, "Sight-see around here,"

"Alright. Love you mom," I told her and started walking back.

"Love you too, Liz," I heard her say behind me.

I walked back to the street, making my way towards Andrea and Milton through the crowd that had gathered.

"Did I miss much?" I whispered to them.

"Nope," Andrea replied, "The Governor's about to make his speech,"

"Cool,"

The Governor got up on the steps of the porch, and everyone quieted down almost immediately.

"First time we gathered, there was nine of us, holed up in an apartment with Spam and saltine crackers," there was some chuckles heard in the crowd, "Well, look at us now. We've built a place we can call home. May be held together with duck tape and string, but it works. It's ours. I'll take it. So today, we celebrate how far we've come. We remember those we've lost. We raise a glass..." everyone held up their glasses, including me, "to us!"

Everyone cheered and clapped their hands, and we took sips out of our glasses. The Governor, Milton, and Merle left everyone to their partying. Andrea and I decided to hang around a little bit, then left to our room after a while.

When we got back, Andrea decided to take a shower, and I began packing up our stuff, knowing that we should be leaving tonight.

I packed up most of the food from the cabinets in the mini kitchen, and lots of water bottles. I started packing some clothes, which The Governor had kindly washed for us. I kept my phone and IPod charging while I packed everything.

When I was done, I looked at my necklace, rubbing the heart between my thumb and forefinger. Thinking for a moment, I decided to take it off, putting it in the side pocket, not really seeing the use of keeping the necklace, but not wanting to let it go.

Andrea got out of the shower when we heard a knock on the door.

"Could you open that, Alyssa?" Andrea asked, drying her hair with a towel.

"Sure," I told her, and opened the door, revealing Merle.

"Hey. What's up?" I asked him, letting him walk into the apartment.

"It's urgent. I need to borrow Blondie for a bit," Merle told me.

"What's wrong?" Andrea asked, seeing Merle and walking towards him.

"I need you to come see The Governor. Talk about a friend of yours," he answered.

"Alright," she said and turned to me, "You'll be ok on your own for a bit?"

"Of course," I said with a laugh, "When have I not been?"

"Yeah, shouldn't have even asked," Andrea chuckled.

She and Merle left, leaving me alone in the small room. I got bored, so I decided to take out one of the books that I had saved from my house all those months ago, yet never read. I took out 'The Hunger Games,' one of my favorite book series, and began to read it.

* * *

No one's P.O.V.

Andrea had just left the Governor when Merle walked into the room.

"How'd it go, Gov?" Merle asked cockily.

"Fine. But it seems that Michonne and Alyssa are still planning to leave, but Andrea wants to stay,"

"Is that good, or bad?"

"I don't care much for Michonne, but I want Alyssa to stay. She reminds me so much of my daughter, strong and brave, but fragile in her own ways because of this world. If she leaves, who knows what might happen to her out there,"

"So, what do we do if she leaves?" Merle asked.

"If she leaves, follow her and bring her back. If Michonne leaves, kill her,"

"Got it, Governor," Merle answered, no questions asked. He left to join the party, but the Governor stayed in the room, mulling over his thoughts.

"She'll be my Penny," he murmured to himself, "She'll be my Penny... She'll be my Penny..." he repeated over and over again.

* * *

_A/N: Dun! Dun! Dun! Did you guys see that coming? Well, tell me what you guys thought in the reviews! _

_See you guys next saturday!_


	9. Chapter 9

_A/N: Hey! Happy New Years! I just wanted to thank you guys so much for favoritinf, following, and reviewing my story. It really means a lot to me to see how many people actually like my story. And, don't worry, Alyssa and Carl will be meeting up soon ;)_

* * *

Alyssa's P.O.V.

I was only ten minutes into the story when mom came back from her 'stroll' around Woodbury, her katana on her back.

"Hey, mom," I greeted her, giving her a hug.

"Hey, Liz," she said as she returned the hug.

She looked at the packed bags on the bed.

Mom rummaged though them, seeing that I packed almost everything.

"You and Andrea already packed?" mom asked me.

"Andrea took a shower while I packed," I told her, putting my phone and IPod into the packs with the chargers, "Why?"

"Let's just say we're not staying much longer here," mom told me, a smirk on her face.

"Mom... What did you do?" I asked, curiosity getting me.

"When everyone was celebrating, I found my sword and took it. After grabbing that, I went outside and found a bunch of walkers caged up in the Governors backyard. I killed them, and one of The Governors goons found me and sent me to him. We had a... friendly disagreement and I left,"

"What do you mean by 'friendly disagreement'?" I asked, sitting on the bed and mom sitting next to me.

"I took my sword and put it against his throat," mom said darkly, "I didn't kill him, but I'm sure as hell that we won't be staying here another night,"

I thought about this for a second, "Mom, we were gonna leave tonight anyway. You didn't have to threaten him,"

"Andrea wouldn't have left,"

"Mom... I don't think Andrea is leaving with us tonight anyway. She really likes it here, and she is getting cozy with The Governor,"

"I know," she groaned.

"Well, we will always have each other," I told her with a smile.

"We will always have each other," she repeated. I gave her a long hug, resting my head on her shoulder. After a few minutes passed, we broke apart, her grabbing miscellaneous things from the room, checking and rechecking the map, and cleaning her sword.

I started to read my book again, but stopping short again when Andrea opened the door and entered the room.

"We got to talk," Andrea said.

"We got to go," mom retorted.

"The Governor told me what happened," Andrea bluntly stated, "Michonne, you can't do things like this. You're freaking people out. You're freaking me out, and your daughter,"

"She's not freaking me out. She just wants to leave. I don't see the point behind it, but I don't care," I said.

"The northeast wall is guarded by some girl. We can escape here after dark," mom said, shoving a bag at Andrea then me.

I held mine, but Andrea tossed hers to the floor, "We are _not _prisoners here,"

"No one who comes here leaves," mom told us.

"What are you talking about?" Andrea asked, "It's safe. There's food, there's shelter. There's people for God's sake! You can raise Alyssa here like its a regular town,"

"That's what they show you, but you can't leave unless they let you," I frowned. What the hell was she talking about?

"You are not making any sense," Andrea said, "Mich, maybe you need to sit down for a minute,"

"You _need _to trust me. Both of you," mom said, looking at her Andrea solely.

"And you need to give me more to go on. We got a good thing goin' here," Andrea said.

"I thought this was temporary,"

"And I think we need this. I want to give this place a real shot,"

"I tried,"

"By breaking into houses? That is not trying. That is sabotaging," Andrea argued.

Mom turned around, taking a deep breath and trying to keep her cool. She turned back around, looking at Andrea, "This place is not what they say it is,"

After mom and Andrea argued for some time, we packed up the rest of the stuff and stared heading towards the gates.

"Hey, hey, hey girls. Where y'all off to in such a hurry?" Merle called out to us, and started to walk our way. Mom pulled me and Andrea along, not stopping.

"Hey, come on, now. Hey," he kept saying to us, "Y'all breaking my heart running away like this,"

Mom made us stop and bluntly told him, "We're leaving,"

"It's almost curfew. I'd have to arrange an escort. I mean, the party's still goin' on," he looked at us, but we didn't say anything, "Alright. Hold on. Wait here a second," he went up to the wall, and shouted to the guy at the wall, "Brownie. Come here,"

Merle talked to Brownie for a minute before Andrea angrily went up to him, "The Governor said we were free to come and go when we pleased,"

"Woah, Blondie. Nothin' personal, but you need to step back," Andrea looked at him for a minute, but complied, and stood on the other side of me.

"See? There's always a reason why we can't leave just yet," mom told Andrea and me.

"Clear!" the man, Brownie, on top of the fence shouted to us.

"Now, if I was y'all, I'd find some shelter before nightfall," Merle told us, and got the gate opened.

"They knew we were coming. This was all for show," mom told Andrea.

Andrea shook her head, "Do you hear yourself? How can you know that? And why would they bother?"

"Ladies?" Merle shouted to us, gesturing towards the gates.

"Close the gates," Andrea told him.

"No!" mom shouted back to Merle.

"I practically begged the Governor to let you stay," Andrea whispered to mom.

"I didn't ask for that," mom whispered back to Andrea.

"You didn't have to. That's what friends do for each other,"

"It goes both ways,"

"So you want to run around out there with walkers on chains and eating twigs? Is that right? Is that what you want for your daughter?"

"We held our own,"

"Eight months. Eight months on the road moving place to place, scavenging, living in a meat locker. That was no life. I'm tired. I don't have another eight months in me. Not like that. What about Alyssa? I can only imagine the suffering she's been through since the start of his whole thing! Woodbury would be good to her. And you, I...," Andrea stopped there, unable to think of anything else.

"I'm not as helpless as you think, Andrea," I told her.

"That's not what I was trying to say. This is no life for an adult, nevertheless a child,"

"But mom and I have held our own since the beginning of this thing. I've made it this far, and though it may not be the ideal life, at least I'm living,"

There was an uncomfortable silence, before mom started talking again, "What about me?" she addressed to Andrea.

"I'm afraid you're gonna disappear," Andrea responded, "We always talked about this place didn't we? A refuge. That idea is what kept us going,"

They stared at each other in silence (whether it was in anger or not, I didn't know,) and I looked at Merle. He held up his arms, as if to ask 'what's taking so long?' and I shrugged my shoulders at him.

"Are you coming or not?" mom asked Andrea.

"Don't do this," Andrea shook her head, "Don't give me an ultimatum. Not after everything,"

"Are you coming or not?" mom repeated, waiting for an answer. When she didn't hear one, she started walking away.

"Michonne!" Andrea called after mom.

I followed mom, but I turned back and told Andrea, "I'll miss you,"

"I'll miss you too, Lizzie," Andrea said.

The second we walked out the gates, Andrea walked toward the gates, looking at us as we left, and Merle closed them behind us.

We kept walking and headed into the forest, not once looking behind us.

* * *

_A/N: Here you go! Remember to review!_


	10. Chapter 10

_A/N: Hey! What's up, guys? So, in this chappie we finally get to the prison! I know a few of you have been waiting for this, so hopefully I did a good job on it. Remember, read and review!_

* * *

We walked around in the forest for a couple hours before we heard some rustling in the trees behind us.

Mom shushed me, slowly walking in front of me, watching the trees. It was just a walker, but mom decided not just to kill it, but had mangled it and put it into a sort of code, where it said, "Go back." Mom still believed that the Woodbury people wouldn't just let us go, so she told me to hide in the trees and wait, as she jumped into a tree near the walker message.

Sure enough, Merle and three other people from Woodbury walked into the clearing, seeing the mangled walker. The smallest of them, I'm guessing the recruit, found out what it meant, and the others started laughing.

"Heheh, look at this. They sent us a biter-gram, y'all," Merle laughed.

"I don't believe this is happening," the one who found out the message said, looking away in disgust.

Merle turned to him, and grabbed the guys shirt, "Hey! Knock it off! The hell's wrong with you?," Merle growled, "Now, the Governor chose you 'cause he thought you were ready. I want you to succeed. I do. But if you keep announcing to the world that you're pissing your pants, I'm gonna have to smash your teeth in," he let go of the guys shirt, giving him a pat on the shoulder.

"Now, how do you say your last name?" Merle asked the new recruit.

"Gargulio," the obviously terrified recruit stuttered.

"We'll, I'm gonna keep calking you Neil," Merle said to Neil.

In the trees, I slowly turned to look at mom, waiting for her signal.

She gave me a nod, and I slowly moved closer to them. I was the distraction, so mom could jump out of the tree and surprise them. It worked, because they heard me and took out their weapons.

"What's the deal, Michonne?" Merle yelled in my direction, and I kept walking around, making a little more noise, "Hmm? You gonna leap out of the woods, one against four, all of us armed to the teeth, and you, with just your little pig-sticker?" They kept looking around, for mom, not me.

That gives us the upper advantage. They don't think a 'little kid' would fight, so they think they're only against mom.

Mom jumped out of the tree, cutting off one mans head, and stabbing another through the stomach. Merle turned around and saw them going down, and shot at mom, only hitting the dead man still on her sword. She quickly ran away, and Merle kept shooting at her. I couldn't see if he actually hit her or not, and my heart rate sped up.

"Where are you at, Alyssa? Come on, you don't really want to stay with Michonne, huh? She just killed two innocent men!" Merle shouted into the woods. He shot again in moms direction, and ran after her. I can't believe I actually trusted this guy! He seemed like a nice person, if you didn't count his cockiness and arrogance, back at Woodbury. If he was nice and turned out to actually be like this, what about the Governor?

I slowly kept walking closer to the scene, trying to be quiet, when I was lifted into the air.

"C'mon, kid. The Governor wants you alive," the recruit, Neil said, holding me in the air.

"Mom!" I screamed, "Mom! MOM!"

Neil wouldn't let me go and I thrashed around in his arms, tying to get it, but it was futile. Every time I moved, he tightened his arms around me. Then I remembered I had my knife in my pocket. I tried to grab it, but I had no room to reach. I was thinking of more strategies to get out, and I bit Neil's left arm, the one closer to my face.

"Arghh!" Neil cried out, not expecting me to fight back, and he moved his arms a bit, giving me more room. I bit his arm again, drawing blood from his forearm, and he released me, grunting in pain.

I grabbed my knife in my hands, bringing it down to his face repeatedly, stabbing him over and over again before his face was beyond recognition.

When I finally stopped, my hands were covered in his blood, and there were splatters of it on my face. I looked around, trying to find where Merle and mom ran to. I passed the bodies that mom killed, not giving them a thought, and ran in the direction they went to.

"Are we having fun yet?!" Merle's voice shouted, and I hid again. I saw him in another clearing, but I didn't see mom anywhere.

I found a sturdy tree, and began to climb it, high enough so Merle wouldn't see me. After a while, Merle left, running away aggravated. I could hear his scream when he found the dead body of Neil.

I slowly and cautiously jumped out of the tree when I knew he was gone, and I could see walkers slowly moving their way into the area, following the sounds of Merle's gun when he shot it at mom.

Speaking of mom, where did she go? When I got down at the bottom of the tree, I looked at the forest floor, seeing a few drops of blood. Was she hit?

"Oh, no," I gasped, covering my mouth with my bloody, filthy hand.

I heard rustling behind me in the trees, and I took out my knife in defense. I looked behind me, and it was mom.

"Oh, Jesus Christ, mom! You scared the shit outta me!" I said, running to her and giving her a hug. She grunted in pain, and held her left leg.

"What's wrong?" I asked her.

"Son of a bitch shot me in the thigh," she told me, "We can't stay here, he and his buddy will be comin' to get us,"

"It'll be just Merle, mom," I told her, and bit my lip.

"Why?" mom asked me.

"Because I... I killed Neil. He tried to kidnap me and bring me back to Woodbury, and I killed him in self defense," I told her, my voice shaking.

She gave me a small nod, "It's not like killing walkers,"

"No, it definitely isn't," I answered, drawing a shaky breath.

"But you had to do it. It was in self defense,"

"It was either that, or go back to the Governor," I nodded.

"Come on, lets get going," she told me.

We saw Merle walk back into the clearing holding his gun, trying to hunt us down. We kept following him as he trekked through the forest, until he stopped.

Mom took this opportunity to try and kill him, but he heard her first. He unarmed her, tripped her onto the dirt, but she was able to kick him in the groin, and in the face before he fell on top of her, and then she kicked him off too.

There were walkers making their way the rough the forest and started to attack mom and Merle, so I had to help mom get out of there.

I ran in the clearing, stabbing walkers in the head if they got too close near me. If only I had my bow, but it was still at Woodbury, in the Governors china set. I kept stabbing walkers, and made my way towards mom. There was a walker cowering over her when she sliced open its stomach, letting its intestines fall out of his undead body and all over her.

She got up quickly, and we left Merle in the clearing, running away for dear life. We got to the tree where we left our bags at, grabbing them and mom put them on her back.

"No," I said, and she turned to me.

"No?" She asked.

"No, you are not carrying those bags. They're heavy, and I don't need you carrying any more weight than your own," I told her, then held out my hand, "Give 'em here,"

Mom looked at me for a moment, contemplating on whether she should or not, then gave them to me.

We were about to start walking down a road, when we saw a group of about five walkers shuffling down the road. Mom took out her katana and I unsheathed my knife. I stabbed a walker through the head when I noticed that I was the only one being attacked by them. Mom killed a few walkers, but they weren't going after her.

Once they were all killed, I asked mom, "Why the hell didn't they go after you?"

She shrugged, "I guess it's because I'm covered in walker guts. I smell like them," then she looked at the pile of walkers on the floor.

My eyes widened, "No! Are you serious, mom?"

"If it helps, then yes. We need help. I need medical attention, and you only have your knife. We need supplies, and these aren't going to last,"

I groaned, and walked over to one of them, stabbing its already mangled body and letting mom throw the undead guts over my body. Soon, both mom and I are covered in walker guts, and we finally hit the road. Mom was limping, and I could see that every step she took put her in pain, so I let her lean on me, her arm around my shoulder.

We eventually got to a main road, and found an abandoned shop. We looked at it, and then we heard the sound of a car approaching. We ducked behind an old broken car, watching the car and seeing two people get out.

One was a woman with short brown hair and brown eyes. The other was an Asian man with brown hair and brown eyes.

"What do we do, mom?" I whispered to her.

She put a finger to her lips, "Shh, we don't know these people. Lets just watch them and see what they do,"

I complied and watched them.

"Clear outside," I heard the woman say in a very southern accent.

"All right, lets take a look," I heard the man say. I saw the two of them kiss before they broke the chains on the door.

"Aww!" I said quietly, and mom scowled at me, "oh, come on, that was cute,"

The man broke the chains and a flock of birds flew out the open doors, startling both of them. Then the man went inside the store with his flashlight.

"Glenn, get that duck," the woman said to the Asian guy. I made a mental note that the mans name is Glenn.

"What?" he replied to her.

"Get that duck," the girl repeated, smiling.

Glenn laughed, "Are you serious?"

"Yeah. A kid growing up in a prison could use some toys," the girl said. Mom and I looked at each other. A prison means safety. And safety means medical help for moms leg.

"We just hit the powdered formula jackpot," Glenn told the girl.

"Thank God!" the girl replied.

"I also got beans, batteries, cocktail wieners, many mustards," Glenn counted off, "It's a straight shot back to the prison from here. Probably make it in time for dinner,"

"I like the quiet," the girl replied, "Back there, back home, you can always here them outside the fence no matter where you are,"

"And where is it y'all good people are calling home?!" Merle's voice shouted, pointing a gun at Glenn and his girlfriend.

"Shit!" I whispered.

Glenn and the woman pointed there guns back at Merle.

A look of confusion passed Glenn's face, "Merle?"

Merle laughed, and put his gun down, "Wow!" And walked towards Glenn, his hands in the air.

"Hey! Back the hell up!" the woman shouted.

"Okay, okay, honey," Merle looked at Glenn, "Jesus!"

"You made it," Glenn told Merle.

"Can you tell me, is my brother alive?" Merle asked.

"Yeah," Glenn answered.

Merle smiled and nodded, "Hey, you take me to him and I'll call it even on everything that happened up there in Atlanta. No hard feelings,"

Merle could see that Glenn was looking at the sharp knife on Merle's amputated hand, "You like it? Well, I found myself a medical supply warehouse. Fixed it up myself. Pretty cool, huh?"

Glenn started talking, "We'll tell Daryl you're here and he'll come out to meet you,"

Merle walked closer to Glenn, "Hold on. Just hold up,"

"Woah. Woah," Glenn stressed, trying to stop Merle from moving closer.

"Hold up here. Hold up. The fact that we found each other is a miracle. Come on. You can trust me,"

"You trust us," Glenn stated, "You stay here,"

They stared at each other, all three of them, before Merle took out a hidden gun and tried to shoot Glenn. Glenn and the woman jumped out of the way, and the glass on the back of the truck shattered. Merle lunged for the woman, grabbing her and placing his arm with the knife attached around her neck, and putting a gun to the side of her head.

Glenn made his way around the car and saw Merle with the girl.

"Hey, hey, buddy, hold up," Merle said to Glenn.

"Let go of her. Let go of her!" Glenn shouted to Merle, pointing his gun at Merle.

"Put that gun in the car right now," Merle threatened, "Put it in the car, son,"

Glenn complied, putting it through the broken back window.

"There you go. Now we're gonna go for a little drive," Merle growled through his teeth.

"We're not going back to our camp," Glenn said.

"No, we're goin' somewhere else. Get in the car, Glenn! You're driving!" Merle shouted.

Glenn walked to the drivers seat of the truck.

"Get up!" Merle shouted to the woman. He and the woman got in the car, and the three of them left, leaving the formula behind.

When the truck was out of site, mom and I got out of our hiding place. I walked over to where Merle dropped his first gun and picked it up, checking the ammo.

"I can't believe I trusted that bastard," I groaned to mom, who picked up the formula.

"It's not your fault. He fooled all of us," mom answered.

"Not you," I retorted, putting the gun in my pocket.

"It was the Governor I didn't trust," I walked over to mom and looked at what was in the basket, then grabbed it and went inside the store.

I looked at the pharmacy section, looking for anything that could help mom. All I could find was a pack of band aids, and I took them, though I knew they wouldn't do much good.

Those people said they had a kid. Right? So, out of spite I looked at the toy section, and grabbed a stuffed pink bunny, just 'cause I can.

I walked out of the store, walking to mom, "Where to? We're looking for that prison, right?"

She looked at what I had put in the basket, "A bunny, Liz? Really?"

I looked away, embarrassed, "They said they had a kid, right? Kids like bunnies. Are we going to find the prison or not?"

"There's only one prison I know of near here, so their group has to be there," mom answered, still chuckling at the bunny in the basket.

"So lets go," I told her, and we started walking. I let mom wrap her arm around my shoulder again, and let her lean on me again.

We kept walking for about an hour when we finally got to a prison. I could see people outside, and I saw a man holding onto a little baby girl. Mom and I went up to the fence, each of us with one hand holding the basket, and one hand lying on the fence. There were walkers all around us, but none of them attacked us. I guess being covered in undead guts is helpful, but I would rather be nice and clean.

The man holding the baby gave the little girl to a kid that looked about my age, and the man walked through the yard, trying to get a look at us. He finally made it to the fence, and just looked at us in disbelief.


	11. Chapter 11

_A/N: Hey guys! What's up? I just wanted to thank everyone who has reviewed, favorited, and followed my story. Did you people know that 4,000 people have read this story?! Whan I first put this up, I couldn't even imagine 1,000 people reading it. This is beyond crazy! Thank you guys SO MUCH! On that note, lets get to the chapter!_

* * *

We stood there at the gates, mom and I, looking at the man. Moms' thigh started to hurt from the shot, and she put her hand on it for a second, before grasping the fence again. The walker next to her turned to her, I guess it was because it could smell the blood on her, and we stepped back a bit, and dropping the basket and our bags to the floor.

The walkers definitely could smell us now, and mom took out her katana and stabbed one in the face. I took out my knife and started stabbing them as well.

"Should we help them?" the kid my age asked the man.

The man walked away from the fence, and we kept stabbing walkers. I looked over at mom, and she fell to the ground, passing out.

"Mom!" I screamed, and stabbed the nearest walker, "Please let us in. My mother needs medical attention!"

The kid went to the fence and shot a few walkers near me.

"Carl!" the man shouted to the kid, and they opened the gates.

I grabbed mom, putting one of her arms around my shoulder and attempted to lift her up. The man and the kid ran out, the kid getting the basket and our bags, and the man shooting walkers near us and helping me pick mom up.

"Is she bit?" An old man with crutches asked.

"No, sir. She was shot in the leg," I told them. The man grabbed Mom's katana away from her.

When we were inside, the people got to work right away.

"Carl, get a blanket. Beth, water and a towel," the man shouted, and the kid ran, along with a blonde woman.

"Here?" the kid, Carl, asked, putting the towel on the floor.

"They're not going into the cell blocks," the man told us, putting mom onto the blanket on the floor.

"Understood, sir," I said shakily. The blonde woman gave the man a bottle of water.

He poured the water on moms neck, and mom coughed.

"Oh, mom! You're awake, thank God!" I told her, crouching near her head.

"It's alright. It's alright," the man told mom, "Hey, look at me,"

Mom looked at him, or tried to. She barely did before trying to grab her katana, and the man kicked it away.

"Hey, hey, we aren't going to hurt you two, unless you try something stupid first, all right?" he told us.

"Rick," another man said behind us, "Who the hell are these people?"

Mom could barely speak, so I talked to them, "I'm Alyssa. This is my mother, Michonne,"

Mom grabbed my hand, and she shook her head.

"You're gonna wanna see this," the man at the door said.

"Okay. Carl, get the bag," the man, I believe his name was Rick, told Carl.

Carl grabbed the basket, along with our bags, and went into the cell block with the other people.

Rick grabbed moms katana, "I'm gonna keep this safe, okay? And, Alyssa, I'm gonna need that knife,"

I nodded, and grabbed my knife and my gun that I got.

"We don't want any trouble, mister," I told him.

He nodded, "The doors are all locked. You'll be safe here. And we can treat your mothers wound,"

"I didn't ask for your help," mom sneered.

"Mom, you need the help," I whispered to her.

"It doesn't matter. Can't let you leave," Rick said, and left the room with the other man. They closed the door and locked it behind them. I walked to the door, looking at them.

I could see Rick was being reunited with someone, but I couldn't see who until they walked out of the door.

And I couldn't believe who it was.

"Carol!" I shouted through the door, "Carol! Carol!"

And she turned around.

"Oh, my God! Alyssa, is that you?" Carol looked at me, and gave the baby girl back to the blonde woman and ran to the door.

"Oh, my! Carol, it is you! Oh, I've missed you so much," I cried to her, and tears flowed freely down my face and hers.

"Oh, I thought you and Christy had died!" Carol cried.

"Liz, you know this woman?" mom said behind me.

"Yes, mom. I do! I was looking for her at her house when you found me!" I replied back to her.

"Oh, Rick! Please, let her in. She was like Sophia's sister before all this. We know each other," Carol pleaded to Rick. All of the group looked at each other, before slowly opening the door, letting Carol and I could grab each other in a bone-crushing hug.

Both of us went into Carol's cell, and the others let us have some privacy to catch up. We sat on Carols' bed, and continued our catching up.

"Oh, my God! What happened to Christy?" Carol asked, and I sobbed.

"My birth mom died. She got bit the first day, and I put her out of her misery," I told her between my tears.

"Oh, Lizzie, I'm so sorry. I wish I could have been there for you. Sophia... Sophia was bit, too," Carol sobbed back.

"I'm sorry. I went looking for you the day after mom had died. I went into your house but you weren't there," I looked from Carol to mom, "But Michonne found me, and we've been traveling together ever since. She's basically adopted me,"

I looked at mom for a second and smiled, though she didn't see me.

"What about you?" I asked Carol.

"I don't know where to start. My family and I went to a campsite with a few of these people that are here, and it was fine for a while. People we knew died, and we went to the CDC. That was a dead end, though. It basically blew up. Then we got to a highway, and Sophia was chased into the woods by two walkers," Carol chocked back a few tears, and I held her hand, "That's when Carl," she pointed to Carl, "got shot looking for her. We wound up on a farm, and met Hershel, Beth, and Maggie," she pointed to the old man and the blonde woman, "I don't know where Maggie is right now, but she is a lovely woman. You would like her. But, eventually a herd of walkers ran us out of the farm, and we ended up here,"

"So, why are you so dusty and bloody?" I asked.

"There were walkers we didn't know about in the tombs. I was stuck in there for a few days. Why are you covered in walker blood?"

"Mom said that it helps to mask our sent. We needed it to get through the yard here,"

"Oh," Carol said. We were left with a silence.

"Speaking of mom, I should probably go see how she is," I told Carol, and stood up.

"It surprises me that you would call her mom so quick,"

"Well, Carol, she has been for the past... almost two years. She comforted me, protected me, and took care of me since the beginning of all this. She basically adopted me as her own," I told Carol, "See ya later,"

When I walked out of the cell block, which was on the second floor, I remembered something that I knew Carol would love to see. Since I didn't know where the bags were, I went to ask Carl, who was with Beth and the baby near the top of the stairs. Beth was giving the baby a bottle of formula.

"Hey, you're Carl, right?" I asked him.

He barely looked at me, keeping his eyes on the baby, but answered, "Yeah. Why?"

"I was wondering if you could show me where my bags are. I need something from them," I asked, getting a good look at him. He had blue eyes, that sadness and grief were very easily seen in, and long brown hair covered by a sheriff's hat.

Then he looked up at me, "I don't know if I can trust you. How do I know you're not gonna grab a knife or somethin'?"

"Why would I want to hurt anyone here if I know that you guys have been keeping Carol safe?" I asked, putting my hands on my hips and trying to look intimidating.

He was quiet for a minute, then answered, " 'Kay. Follow me. But if you try anything, I won't hesitate to kill you," and he started walking down the stairs, looking behind them.

"Tough crowd," I muttered, seeing all the glances of the group looking at me.

"We don't know you. We don't know if you're trustworthy or a bloodthirsty killer who'll murder us in our sleep," Carl told me, grabbing the bags and throwing them atop of a nearby table.

"Thanks," I told him, "And, FYI, I'm not a 'bloodthirsty killer who will murder you in your sleep.'" And I looked through one bag, finding the necklace easily and pulling it out.

"You wanted a necklace?" Carl said, a bit of anger behind his words, "Why is a necklace so important?"

"It was Sophia's," I told him, curling my fist around the heart charm, "And, if you know Carol, this will be very important to her,"

"Oh," he said a little uneasily, "You knew Sophia well, didn't you?"

"We were like sisters. We went to each others houses almost every night. The sleepovers were always on the weekend, and were usually at my house. Ed never wanted me at their house," I said, smiling, remembering all the happy memories with Sophia.

"You know what Ed did to the both of them, right?" Carl asked.

"None of them liked to admit it, but I knew," I said through clenched teeth. It doesn't matter now, though, he can't hurt them anymore. He's dead.

"So, how'd you guys get this place all to yourself? There must have been hundreds of walkers in here," I said, closing up the bag and putting both of them back.

"It was tough, and we lost people," Carl said solemnly.

"I'm sorry to hear that. I bet they were good people ," I told him, giving him a small smile, "My condolences,"

"They were very good people," Carl said sadly, and I could tell he was chocking back tears.

I didn't know what to do; I was never good with helping sad people feel better, so I told him I should give Carol the necklace. He told me that it was alright, and that he had to go take watch anyway.

Instead of going straight to Carol, I went to go see mom. When I got back to where we were taken in the first place, I saw her sitting at a table. I put the necklace in my pocket and sat down next to her.

"How does your leg feel?" I asked her.

"Well, let me tell you that the feeling isn't pleasant," mom said to me. I could still see that she was wincing in pain.

"Well, hopefully these people can patch you up," I told her.

"Why do you trust them so much? We just met these people!" mom said back to me, a slight quiver of anger behind her words.

"Because Carol is here. You don't know her, but she was like a second mom to me before the world went to hell. Sophia, her daughter, was like my sister. If Carol is here, then I know that they're good people," I said, certainty behind my words, "I know Carol, and she doesn't hang out with jackasses,"

We stayed silent, sitting at the table. The door to the cell block opened, letting Rick, the man with the crossbow, and Hershel into the kitchen-like area.

"We can tend that wound for you," Rick told mom, "give you a little food and water, and then send you two on your way. But you're gonna have to tell us how you found us and why you were carrying formula,"

"The supplies were dropped by a young Asian guy with a pretty girl," mom told him briskly.

"The girl called him Glenn a few times," I remembered, and Hershel stood up on his crutches, his eyes filling with worry.

That's when I pieced it together; the woman that was taken with Glenn must've been Maggie, Hershel's other daughter that Carol told me about.

"What happened?" Rick asked.

"Were they attacked?" Hershel asked.

"They were taken," mom said.

"Taken? By who?" Rick asked.

"By the same son a bitch who shot me," mom said bitterly.

"Hey. These are our people. You tell us what happened now!" Rick angrily said, grabbing moms wound in the process.

"Don't you ever touch me again," mom grunted, pushing him away. The man with the crossbow held it up and pointed it at mom, and I inched away from them.

"Then you'd better start talking," Rick said.

"You're gonna have a much bigger problem thrown a gunshot wound," the man with the crossbow said, keeping the crossbow aimed at moms head.

"Find 'em yourself," mom said to the man.

Rick shushed the man, and told him to put down his crossbow, which he angrily complied to. Mom stood up in front of Rick, keeping the small towel on her wound. I stayed sitting at the table as Rick, Hershel, and the crossbow guy moved closer to mom.

"You came here for a reason," Rick told mom, and she glared at him.

Mom stayed silent for a moment before finally talking, "There's a town. Woodbury. About 75 survivors. I think they were taken there,"

They stared at mom like she had three heads, before Rick said incredulously, "A whole town?"

"It's run by this guy who calls himself the Governor. Pretty boy, charming, Jim Jones type," mom answered.

"He got muscle?" crossbow guy asked.

"Paramilitary wannabes," mom replied.

"They have armed men on every wall, at all times," I told them, and they looked at me, as if they'd forgotten I was here.

"Oh, Alyssa, you can go on in," Rick told me, "We juts need to chat with your mom now, alright?"

"Mom?" I asked her getting her conformation, and she nodded.

"You can help Beth with the baby, if you like. Beth is my daughter," Hershel said, giving me a kind smile, "She should be in one of the cell blocks,"

"Thank you," I told them, and exited the room.

* * *

_A/N: Remember guys, read and review! They really make my day. And feel free to PM me, too._


	12. Chapter 12

_A/N: How is everyone this beautful Saturday evening? I am so happy! I had mid-terms all week (excluding Monday and Wednesday,) so I am super happy! I finally have a cover photo for this story, and it was drawn by my friend from school. You should really check out her devianart, her art is super awesome! Her Devianart account name is AshleyTheHedgehog855. In this chapter, it's basically shows how Alyssa interactes with some of the group. Onto the chappie!_

* * *

I went up the stairs, and headed to Carols room first. She was washing the blood and dust off her face with a wet towel and a bowl full of water.

"Hey, Alyssa. Did Rick talk to you yet?" She asked, dipping the small towel into the bowl and washing her cheek.

"Yeah, with Hershel and some weirdo crossbow guy," I told her, sitting next to her on the bed.

"Weirdo crossbow guy!" she laughed, "You must mean Daryl, but weirdo crossbow guy is a nice a nice way to describe him,"

"He isn't exactly the nicest person I've met," I said to her.

"Yeah, he's pretty tough, but once you get to know him, he is actually a really nice guy. He went out looking for Sophia more times than anybody else, when she went missin'," Carol told me.

I nodded, "Okay, I'll take your word for it, but I didn't come here to talk about Daryl. I came her to give you this," and I took Sophia's necklace from my pocket.

Carol gasped, and I put it in her free hand.

"This was the one I gave her for her 10th birthday," Carol whispered, "She used to wear it almost everyday. Ed wouldn't let us take any jewelry when this all started, though. He made us leave everything we didn't need,"

I watched her stare at the necklace in silence, rubbing her thumb over the heart like I used to when I wore it.

"After mom died, I went to your house, looking for you guys, but you were already gone. I found it," I gestured at the necklace, "lying on her dresser, and I took it. I didn't know if you guys were alive or not, so I wore it to keep hope that you were okay," I told her, moving to sit next to Carol, "Now that I know you are alive, you can have it back,"

"No, Lizzie. It's yours now," I heard Carol say, and she put it around my neck, "It may have been Sophia's, but you have kept it safe. It may just be a piece of jewelry to some, but this necklace holds a piece of our past. It's yours to keep,"

I put my hand on the heart charm, holding it.

"Are you sure you don't want it?" I asked her.

"I'm positive. It's yours now," she told me, "Now, do you want to see the baby?"

"Sure," I told her, and we left the room, walking down the stairs.

"Are you sure we can trust them?" I heard someone say.

"This is Maggie and Glenn. Why are we even debating?" Beth said, holding the baby in her arms. I could see everyone around, so I excused myself to go see mom.

Getting to the kitchen area, I saw Carl watching mom, and Hershel tending her wound, stitching it up.

"Thank you," I heard mom say, and Hershel just nodded.

"Will my mom be okay?" I asked him, walking over to her and taking a seat on one of the tables near her.

"She'll be just fine, sweetheart. Just as long as she takes it easy," Hershel said to me, and cut the last of the stitches.

"How did the two of you survive this long without a group?" Carl asked, looking at me.

"We had each other," I answered, "We watched each others backs, we kept each other safe. It wasn't easy, but we managed,"

"Carl," I heard Rick say, and I turned around.

"Yeah, dad?" Carl asked him.

"We need your help packin'," Rick said, and Carl left with him.

"That should be good," Hershel told mom, "Just be careful. Take it easy, and you should heal up just fine. We've got painkillers if you need 'em,"

Mom stood up, and we all went to help them pack. Hershel was ahead of us, and mom stopped me before we left the room.

"You're not coming," she said.

"What?" I asked her, confusion in my words.

"You're not coming with us to Woodbury," she told me.

"No. I'm going! I have to," I disagreed with her.

"You are staying here with a few of the others. They only need one person to show them Woodbury, and that's me," she told me, authority in her words.

"But that's not fair! I want-" I started, but mom stopped me.

"Liz, you are staying here. That's it," she said, and started walking outside to the courtyard.

"It's not fair," I muttered angrily, before following after her.

Walking outside, I could see everyone packing things into cars, counting ammo and taking stock of everything. I also saw Carol holding the baby near the door.

I walked I've to her, seeing the baby clearly for the first time. It was a girl, wrapped up in a blanket. She had a tiny patch of hair on her head, and she had big brown eyes.

"Oh, my goodness," I breathed, watching her in amazement, "Where's the mother?"

"Her mother, Lori, died in childbirth," Carol said sadly, "She was Ricks wife, Carl's mom,"

"Oh, that's so sad!" I said, looking at the child, "Does she have a name?"

"Not yet," Carol said, "They haven't decided,"

The baby looked at me with her big brown orbs, and gurgled happily.

"Would you like to hold her?" Carol asked me.

"Oh, um, sure," I replied to her, and she moved the baby into my arms.

"Hey there, sweetheart," I murmured to her, looking at her, "Aren't you the cutest little thing?"

She put her arms out toward me, grabbing a piece of my long hair and tugging at it. She babbled in baby talk, her eyes twinkling in delight.

Hershel went down the stairs slowly and hobbled over to us, looking at the baby.

"Isn't she precious?" He asked me, gently touching her cheek.

"Yeah. I haven't seen a baby since I was, like, 5," I told him.

"Really?" Hershel asked me.

"I'm an only child, sir. I've never been near younger kids,"

"Oh, you don't need to call me sir," Hershel told me, "Just call me Hershel,"

"Okay," I laughed, and looked back down at the baby. She was still tugging at the piece of hair, but I could see she was losing interest in it.

"I'm going to say goodbye to the others, alright?" Hershel asked us, and left.

I saw Daryl heading towards us, probably to say goodbye to Carol. I gave her back the baby, seeing sleepiness behind the little child's eyes.

"Stay safe," Daryl told Carol.

"Nine lives, remember?" Carol told him, shifting the baby in her arms.

"Hey, kid. Sorry about pointing my crossbow at your mothers head," he told me.

"Um, thanks?" I replied. How does one reply to an apology like that?

"You see, we don't know you people much much. But, if you know Carol, then I can already tell your trustworthy," he told me, and then left us.

Everyone was jumping into cars, getting ready to leave for Woodbury, with my mom.

Mom went over to me, giving me a bear hug.

"Be safe," I mumbled to her. I can't believe she won't let me go with them, but I still want her to be safe.

"Of course, Liz. Be safe, too," she said back.

"Remember, if you die, I will kill you," I said with a laugh.

"I haven't died yet, have I?" mom laughed back to me, and gave me a kiss on the forehead. She slowly let me go, and jumped into one of the cars with the others.

"Bring them back," Hershel told Rick, looking him straight in the eyes. Rick just nodded, and jumped into the car. Once they left, the remainder of us went back into the prison. It was just Carol, the baby, Beth, Hershel, Carl, and me. Carol was watching the baby, so I walked over to the basket with the formula and grabbed the pink bunny. I walked over to Carol and the baby, and Carl was with them now.

"Hey there, sweetheart," I murmured to the baby, "I brought you a little somethin' to play with," and I showed her the bunny in my hand. She looked at it for a moment, and then grabbed one of its ears, bringing it down to her, then she started drooling over it, playing in happiness.

"Aw, that was very sweet, Lizzie," Carol said, smiling at me.

"When I heard Maggie saying that there was a baby, I just had to grab a toy for her," I told her.

"Her name is Judith," Carl said.

"Nice name," I replied to him, "Where are Beth and Hershel?"

"They're in the kitchen, praying or something," Carl told me, shrugging his shoulders.

I nodded, and left Carol and Carl alone, walking into the kitchen. Mom, my birth mom, never raised me up believing in any religion. She always thought that it didn't matter, so that's how I usually saw religion.

Looking at Hershel and Beth, I could see that that wasn't the case. I could see that they cared very much for that old Bible in Hershel's hands, the one that he was reading from.

I walked over to them, Hershel reading a piece of the Bible, and Beth's hands were clasped together.

"Could I... Join you?" I asked them nervously.

Hershel smiled, "Of course, Alyssa. Take a seat,"

I sat next to Beth, and she held out a hand toward me. I smiled, grabbing her hand, and Hershel began reading again.

Once he was done reading, he said, "Amen,"

"Amen," Beth and I repeated.

"Dear Lord, please help Rick and the others find my daughter, and her boyfriend. I couldn't bear to lose them," Hershel prayed.

"Please help them find Maggie and Glenn," Beth murmured. Hershel got up from his seat, grabbing his crutches. Beth released my hand and got up as well. I followed them, walking into the cell block.

"Hershel, may I ask how you lost your leg?" I asked him, gesturing toward the empty space below his knee on one of his legs.

"Dear, I was bitten. Rick cut off my leg before the infection spread. He saved my life," Hershel answered.

"Oh," I replied, not knowing what to say.

"Did your mother ever take you to church?" he asked me, continuing the conversation.

"No. My birth mother, and adoptive, never really believed it was important. This was my first time ever even seeing a Bible," I told him truthfully, looking at baby Judith being put into Beths hands.

"Well, if you ever want to join us, you're always welcome to," Hershel told me with a smile.

"Thank you," I told him, and he hobbled away into a nearby cell.

I saw Carl sitting on the steps of the stairs, so I joined him, sitting on a lower step.

"I'm sorry to hear about your mom," I told him after some silence.

"Carol tell you?" he asked, looking at me.

"Yeah. She also said that you were shot looking for Sophia,"

He grimaced, "Yeah. I don't recommend it,"

I laughed softly, "Trust me, getting shot is on my, 'What Not to Do' list. So, do you mind me asking how it happened?"

"My dad, a friend of ours, and I were in the woods looking for Sophia. We saw a buck a few feet away from us. I tried to get closer, when someone on the other side of the buck shot it. The bullet went through the buck, and into me,"

"Damn," I told him, "That must've sucked,"

"It wasn't exactly the most fun experience I've had," he chuckled, "So, how about you? What's happened to you since this hell on earth started?"

"Well," I began, "Not much. I've learned how to use guns and knives. I'm pretty good with a bow and arrow, too. If I can get my hands on one,"

"How about what you've lost?" Carl asked me quietly.

"I... I lost my birth mom at the beginning of this. She was bit the first day, and I couldn't do anything to stop it. I had to put her out of her misery," I said to him with a shaky breath.

"I'm sorry," he apologized to me, "I shouldn't have asked,"

"It's okay," I replied to him, "It feels good to talk to someone about it,"

"What about your dad?" Carl asked.

"I haven't had a dad since I was eight. He died from liver cancer," I told him.

"If it makes you feel any better, we've all been struggling to cope with the loses we've had. We lost a friend of ours, T-Dog, and my mom, as you've heard. T-dog was bitten trying to save others in our group, and my mother died giving birth to Judith. My fathers gone off the deep end when he heard about my mom," Carl told me.

"We all deal with death in our own ways," I said to Carl, "If your dad has gone crazy, he'll get his bearings soon enough,"

"Thanks," he said to me, "it's good to hear that at least someone thinks my dad isn't _completely_ crazy,"

"Anytime," I shrugged to him, and sat up, "I'm gonna go hang out with Beth and Judith. That alright?"

"Go ahead. I'm gonna keep watch soon anyway," he told me, giving me a small nod and walking off.

I walked over to Beth and Judith, still seeing Judith drooling on the poor bunny I got her. Seeing Beth, I thought of where I'll be staying. I don't know which cells are taken or not, because no one has personal belongings anymore.

"Hey, Alyssa," Beth happily said, grabbing a bottle of formula and mixing everything up.

"Nothing much," I told her, "I'm trying to figure out where to stay, since I don't know which cells are taken or not,"

"Well, if you need a place to say, you can get the top bunk of my cell," she said to me in her southern accent, "I wouldn't mind having a roommate,"

"Seriously?" I asked her in disbelief, "You wouldn't mind me moving into your cell, even if you barely know me?"

Beth shrugged, "You don't seem like the kind of person who would try to kill me in my sleep,"

"Thanks," I told her, "Which cell is yours?"

"Up the stairs, first one to the right," she told me, taking the slobbered bunny from Judith and putting a bottle into her mouth instead.

I grabbed my bags from underneath the stairs and headed into the cell. It was just a normal cell, there was nothing personal inside it that I could see.

I opened up my bags, grabbing my small pile of clothes and shoving them into an empty drawer on the dresser. I also put my small pile of books onto the top of the dresser. The books consisted of 'The Hunger Games' trilogy and the 'Percy Jackson and the Olympians' series. There were more, but I lost them when mom and I moved from place to place. I grabbed a new pair of clothes, which was just a pair of leggings and a t-shirt, and changed into them. I threw the clothes with walker blood to the corner of the room.

I jumped on the top bunk, seeing that it wasn't too bad. It was better than the beaten up sleeping bag I've been sleeping on. Drowsiness filled my body, so I decided it was time to take a well-deserved nap.

* * *

_A/N: Remember to read and review! Feel free to PM me too._


End file.
